Fabrication and characterization of 1–4 at.% Nd3+:Y3Al5O12 Laser Ceramics by solid-state reactive sintering

Peculiarities of phase formation and densification processes during reactive sintering of Nd3+:YAG laser ceramics prepared using particles with different size have been studied. It has been found that utilization of submicron powders can significantly reduce YAG formation temperature from 1700°C for coarse powder to 1200-1500°C for fine powders. Moreover, utilization of different-sized yttria and alumina particles provide a competitive advantage of shrinkage over expansion processes by changing the kinetics of YAG phase formation. Nd3+:YAG (1-4 at.%) laser ceramics with in-line optical transmission of about 81.5 % at λ=1064 nm has been produced by reactive sintering. Finally, we succeed in lasing of Nd3+:YAG (4 at.%) ceramics under pulsed laser diode pumping.