Microstructural characteristics of Nd:YAG powders leading to transparent ceramics

We reported on the successful synthesis of the Nd:YAG (Nd:Y3Al5O12) nano-powders by using urea as the precipitant with the microwave assisted homogeneous precipitation (MAHP) method. The different microstructural characteristics of the Nd:YAG nano-powders were affected by the concentrations of (Y3++Nd3+) and Al3+ ([Y3++Nd3+]=0.06 mol/L, [Al3+]=0.1 mol/L), aging time (6 d) and aging condition (in vessel). The optimum microstructural characteristics of the high quality Nd:YAG nano-powders leading to transparent Nd:YAG ceramics including the pure YAG phase, the smallest crystallite size, a uniform crystallite size distribution, less density defects, uniform micro-components and the proper molar ratio of (Y3++Nd3+) and Al3+ (0.6148) were discussed.