Effect of loading schedule on densification of MgAl2O4 spinel during spark plasma sintering (SPS) processing

An increase in the loading temperature during SPS processing can reduce the residual porosity in a spinel and thus attain a high transmission even at the high heating rate of 100 °C/min. This suggests that load controlling is an important factor as well as the heating rate and sintering temperature. Although the transmission is lower than the maximum value attained at the low heating rates of <10 °C/min, the loading schedule optimization enables utilization of the high heating rate processing that is a primary advantage of the SPS technique.