Transmittance and cathodoluminescence of AlN ceramics sintered with Ca3Al2O6 as sintering additive

Aluminum nitride ceramics were prepared by sintering with 0–4.8 mass% of Ca3Al2O6 (C3A) as a sintering additive. The transmittance in the range of 260–550 nm increased with increasing amount of C3A. The cathodoluminescence intensity attributed to oxygen-induced defects decreased with increasing amount of C3A. From the results, the increase of the transmittance in the range of 260–550 nm was considered to be related to the decrease of the oxygen-induced defect density.