Effect of LiF Addition on the Preparation and Transparency of Vacuum Hot Pressed Y<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>

Abstract

In the present work, the preparation of transparent yttria ceramics by vacuum hot pressing was investigated, using yttria powder whose mean diameter is 0.88 μm and whose purity is higher than 99.9%.Transparent yttria ceramics were fabricated by vacuum hot pressing with small additions of LiF (about 1 mass%). Hot pressing temperature and pressure were kept at 1573 K and 44 MPa, respectively. The processed samples were observed to have transparencies up to 78% at the wavelength of 644 nm and over 80% in the range of 860 nm-6 μm.