Premium
Silica reactivity during reaction‐sintering of Nd: YAG transparent ceramics
Author(s) -
Boulesteix Rémy,
Bonnet Loïck,
Maître Alexandre,
Chrétien Lucie,
Sallé Christian
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.14680
Subject(s) - sintering , materials science , ceramic , thermogravimetry , transparent ceramics , solubility , mineralogy , analytical chemistry (journal) , metallurgy , composite material , chemical engineering , chemistry , chromatography , engineering
Abstract Silica (SiO 2 ) is widely used as sintering aid during vacuum sintering of YAG (Y 3 Al 5 O 12 )‐based transparent ceramics. These ceramics are mainly used for laser applications when they are doped with rare‐earth luminescent elements such as Yb 3+ or Nd 3+ . By means of microstructural, chemical, dilatometry, and thermogravimetry analyses, this study has evidenced that sufficiently high amount of silica (ie above the solubility limit in YAG ) forms intergranular transient liquid phase of mixed composition Y‐Al‐Si‐O that vaporizes rapidly for temperatures higher than 1350°C. As a result, silica content after sintering remains always lower than the solubility limit in YAG ceramics (ie lower than 900 ppm). Finally, vacuum sintering with an external source of gaseous Si was proven to be suitable to manufacture highly transparent Nd: YAG ceramics.