Transparent Lu3NbO7 bodies prepared by reactive spark plasma sintering and their optical and mechanical properties

Transparent lutetium niobate (Lu3NbO7) bodies were prepared by reactive spark plasma sintering using Lu2O3 and Nb2O5 powders. Fully dense Lu3NbO7 bodies with density greater than 99.5% of the theoretical were obtained at 1300–1650 °C. The grains steadily grew from 0.1 to 0.6 μm with increasing sintering temperature from 1200 to 1450 °C and significant grain growth from 2.2 to 9.2 μm occurred at 1550–1650 °C. The Lu3NbO7 body sintered at 1450 °C showed the highest transmittance of 63% at 550 nm after heat treatment at 850 °C in air for 6 h. Fully dense, submicron-size transparent Lu3NbO7 exhibited Vickers hardness of ∼13.0 GPa and indentation fracture toughness of 1.0 MPa m1/2.