详细
We have studied the effect of Sc2O3 as a modifying additive on the formation of weakly agglomerated single-phase nanopowders of doped yttrium aluminum garnet with the laser composition Y2.97Nd0.03ScAl4O12 (Nd:YSAG), the fundamental aspects of the preparation of transparent ceramics from the modified powders, and the microstructure and properties of the ceramics. Carbonate precursor powders with a specific surface area of 285 m2/g, synthesized via quantitative chemical coprecipitation of metal cations from an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid salts in the presence of high molecular weight surfactants have been characterized by high-temperature X-ray diffraction. The results demonstrate for the first time that, during the thermal decomposition of the carbonate precursor, the structure of Nd:YSAG is formed in the temperature range 850–1000°C in the form of a metastable nonstoichiometric cubic aluminate, (Y,Nd)ScxAl1–xO3, with a garnet-like structure. In the range 1100–1150°C, it reacts with the Al2O3 resulting from the decomposition of the precursor to form Nd:YSAG. The synthesized weakly agglomerated spherical nanoparticles and submicron particles with a controlled stable size in the range 100 to 200 nm were vacuum-sintered to give transparent ceramics with an average grain size of 3 μm and high transmission (up to 78%) in the visible spectral region.