Photoluminescence of Doped YAG Transparent Ceramics Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering

Doped transparent ceramics have potential for a wide range of optical applications derived from their easily controllable fluorescence properties. The aim of this contribution is to present and discuss an effective fabrication method for doped transparent yttrium aluminum garnet ceramics. The powder synthesis route was adapted from common co-precipitation methods and the powder densification was performed by spark plasma sintering. Parameters of the fabrication process were optimized for different lanthanide dopants in order to obtain highly transparent single- and multi-doped ceramics. The photoluminescence properties of the samples were measured and discussed. The use of lithium fluoride as a sintering additive was confirmed to be favorable and post-sintering heat treatments were shown to be necessary for certain dopants. Finally, the photoluminescence lifetime of dopants in a multi-doped sample were measured and the energy transfer efficiency between dopants was determined.