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Journal of Advanced Ceramics 2021, 10(1): 49-61 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0416-3
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 21 September 2020

Effect of starting materials and sintering temperature on microstructure and optical properties of Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 at% transparent ceramics

Show Author's Information R. P. YAVETSKIYa( ),  A. E. BALABANOVa,  S. V. PARKHOMENKOa,  O. S. KRYZHANOVSKAa,  A. G. DOROSHENKOa,  P. V. MATEYCHENKOa,  A. V. TOLMACHEVa,  Jiang LIb,  Nan JIANGb,  L. GHEORGHEc,  M. ENCULESCUd
Institute for Single Crystals of NAS of Ukraine, 60 Nauky Ave., Kharkiv 61072, Ukraine
Key Laboratory of Transparent Opto-functional Inorganic Materials, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201899, China
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Laboratory of Solid-State Quantum Electronics, Magurele 077125, Ilfov, Romania
National Institute of Materials Physics, Magurele 077125, Ilfov, Romania
Keywords:
microstructure, reactive sintering, transparent ceramics, grain growth, lasing
Cite this article:
YAVETSKIY RP, BALABANOV AE, PARKHOMENKO SV, et al. Effect of starting materials and sintering temperature on microstructure and optical properties of Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 at% transparent ceramics. Journal of Advanced Ceramics, 2021, 10(1): 49-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0416-3
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Abstract Full text About this article

Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 at% ceramics have been synthesized by the reactive sintering method using different commercial yttria powders (Alfa-Micro, Alfa-Nano, and ITO-V) as raw materials. It has been shown that all Y2O3 starting powders consist from agglomerates up to 5-7 μm in size which are formed from 25-60 nm primary particles. High-energy ball milling allows to significantly decreasing the median particle size D50 below 500 nm regardless of the commercial powders used. Sintering experiments indicate that powder mixtures fabricated from Alfa-Nano yttria powders have the highest sintering activity, while (Y0.86La0.09Yb0.05)2O3 ceramics sintered at 1750 ℃ for 10 h are characterized by the highest transmittance of about 45%. Y2O3:Yb3+ ceramics have been obtained by the reactive sintering at 1750-1825 ℃ using Alfa-Nano Y2O3 powders and La2O3+ZrO2 as a complex sintering aid. The effects of the sintering temperature on densification processes, microstructure, and optical properties of Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 at% ceramics have been studied. It has been shown that Zr4+ ions decrease the grain growth of Y2O3:Yb3+ ceramics for sintering temperatures 1750-1775 ℃. Further increasing the sintering temperature was accompanied by a sharp increase of the average grain size of ceramics referred to changes of structure and chemical composition of grain boundaries, as well as their mobility. It has been determined that the optimal sintering temperature to produce high-dense yttria ceramics with transmittance of 79%-83% and average grain size of 8 μm is 1800 ℃. Finally, laser emission at ~1030.7 nm with a slope efficiency of 10% was obtained with the most transparent Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 аt% ceramics sintered.


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Effect of starting materials and sintering temperature on microstructure and optical properties of Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 at% transparent ceramics

Show Author's information R. P. YAVETSKIYa( ), A. E. BALABANOVa, S. V. PARKHOMENKOa, O. S. KRYZHANOVSKAa, A. G. DOROSHENKOa, P. V. MATEYCHENKOa, A. V. TOLMACHEVa, Jiang LIb, Nan JIANGb, L. GHEORGHEc, M. ENCULESCUd
Institute for Single Crystals of NAS of Ukraine, 60 Nauky Ave., Kharkiv 61072, Ukraine
Key Laboratory of Transparent Opto-functional Inorganic Materials, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201899, China
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Laboratory of Solid-State Quantum Electronics, Magurele 077125, Ilfov, Romania
National Institute of Materials Physics, Magurele 077125, Ilfov, Romania

Abstract

Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 at% ceramics have been synthesized by the reactive sintering method using different commercial yttria powders (Alfa-Micro, Alfa-Nano, and ITO-V) as raw materials. It has been shown that all Y2O3 starting powders consist from agglomerates up to 5-7 μm in size which are formed from 25-60 nm primary particles. High-energy ball milling allows to significantly decreasing the median particle size D50 below 500 nm regardless of the commercial powders used. Sintering experiments indicate that powder mixtures fabricated from Alfa-Nano yttria powders have the highest sintering activity, while (Y0.86La0.09Yb0.05)2O3 ceramics sintered at 1750 ℃ for 10 h are characterized by the highest transmittance of about 45%. Y2O3:Yb3+ ceramics have been obtained by the reactive sintering at 1750-1825 ℃ using Alfa-Nano Y2O3 powders and La2O3+ZrO2 as a complex sintering aid. The effects of the sintering temperature on densification processes, microstructure, and optical properties of Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 at% ceramics have been studied. It has been shown that Zr4+ ions decrease the grain growth of Y2O3:Yb3+ ceramics for sintering temperatures 1750-1775 ℃. Further increasing the sintering temperature was accompanied by a sharp increase of the average grain size of ceramics referred to changes of structure and chemical composition of grain boundaries, as well as their mobility. It has been determined that the optimal sintering temperature to produce high-dense yttria ceramics with transmittance of 79%-83% and average grain size of 8 μm is 1800 ℃. Finally, laser emission at ~1030.7 nm with a slope efficiency of 10% was obtained with the most transparent Y2O3:Yb3+ 5 аt% ceramics sintered.

Keywords: microstructure, reactive sintering, transparent ceramics, grain growth, lasing

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 30 April 2020
Revised: 06 August 2020
Accepted: 25 August 2020
Published: 21 September 2020
Issue date: February 2021

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2020

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine by the budget programs "Support for the development of priority areas of scientific research" (KPKVK 6541230). The authors are grateful to Dr. Vyacheslav Baumer from the "SSI Institute for Single Crystals" of NAS of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine, Dr. Andrei Kuncser from the National Institute of Materials Physics, Bucharest, Romania, and to Dr. Nicolaie Pavel and Dr. Gabriela Croitoru from the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Magurele, Romania, for their help in the characterization of the ceramic samples and the fruitful discussions of the experimental results.

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