Influence of MgO or TiO2 doping on the sintering path and on the optical properties of a submicronic alumina material

Sintering in air was performed on pure, MgO-doped or TiO2-doped slip cast α-alumina samples. The “relative density/grain size” trajectory, called the “sintering path”, was established for each composition. Fully dense samples were obtained by an additional hot isostatic pressing step on the pure and doped materials. After grinding and polishing, the optical properties were measured on flat windows (thickness around 1 mm) in the visible, near-infrared and mid-infrared ranges.