Vacuum sintering of highly transparent La1.28Yb1.28Zr2O7.84 ceramic using nanosized raw powders

Highly transparent La1.28Yb1.28Zr2O7.84 ceramic was prepared by vacuum sintering using nanosized raw powders, which were synthesized by a simple solution combustion method using rare earth nitrate as the raw materials. The as-burnt powders were calcined at 1200 ℃ and then ball-milled for 24 h with resultant particle size of about 60 nm. The two phases, cubic pyrochlore and defective fluorite, are uniformly distributed in the ceramic. La1.28Yb1.28Zr2O7.84 transparent ceramic with the maximum in-line transmittance of 83.9% was successfully prepared at 1850 ℃ for 6 h in a vacuum furnace.