Optical properties of zirconia doped with yttria and some rare earth oxides

•Hydrothermal crystallization of zirconia-yttra-rare earth oxides powders.•Fully dense polycrystals by pressure-less and HIP-ing.•Dependence of the transmittance and reflectance vs. wave length.•The absorption edge observation in the UV regime.

Nanometric powders of cubic zirconia stabilized with yttria and rare element oxides (Sm, Nd, Gd) were prepared by crystallization under hydrothermal conditions. The powders were uniaxially compacted, repressed isostatically, pressure-less sintered in oxygen atmosphere and hot isostatically pressed under 300 MPa Ar atmosphere. Fully dense samples were polished from both sides. The optical properties were analyzed based on the spectral dependence of the transmittance (T) and reflectance (R). Spectroscopic measurements have shown that all materials fabricated in the present work are highly transparent, with total transmission above 90% towards the long-wavelength end of the near-IR range of the spectrum. Discussion of these results will be given.