Effects of characteristics of Y2O3 commercial powders on structural and optical properties of Nd:YAG ceramics

Using commercial powders as starting materials, Nd:YAG ceramics were fabricated by the solid-state reactive sintering method. The results show that there are some differences in characteristics of three batches of Y2O3 powders even with the same brand. Effects of different characteristics of Y2O3 powders on microstructures and optical properties of Nd:YAG ceramics are investigated. Among these three batches, Y2O3 powder with average particle size of 2.3 μm and specific surface area of ~1.98 m2/g is the most suitable one for preparation of high quality Nd:YAG ceramics in this paper. The transmittance of Nd:YAG ceramics with a fully dense and pore-free microstructure is very close to the theoretical value of single crystal.