Effect of ZrO2 on the sinterability and spectral properties of (Yb0.05Y0.95)2O3 transparent ceramic

(Yb0.05Y0.95)2O3 transparent ceramics were fabricated by vacuum sintering technique using high purity Y2O3 powder as starting material and ZrO2 as additive. The results indicated that the introduce of ZrO2 can improve the transmittance of yttria ceramics greatly and the mechanism was also analyzed. 3.0 at.% ZrO2 doped (Yb0.05Y0.95)2O3 transparent ceramics sintered at 1800 °C for 20 h had the optimum transmittance. The microstructure is uniform and no secondary phase is observed in the ceramics with the average grain size of 15 μm. The relative density is 99.68% and the transmittance in near-infrared band is as high as 83.7% (up to 98.5% of theoretical value). The spectroscopic properties of 3.0 at.% ZrO2 doped (Yb0.05Y0.95)2O3 ceramics were also investigated. The absorption, emission cross-section and fluorescence lifetime have been estimated as 1.175 × 10−20, 1.767 × 10−20 cm2 and 0.93 ms, respectively. All the results indicate that Yb3+ doped Y2O3 transparent ceramic is promising laser material.