Abstract
We have successfully developed high-quality laser-grade yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), and lutetium oxide (Lu2O3), using a novel combustion chemical vapor condensation (CCVC) technique based on a proprietary NanoSpray Combustion process. The purity of the nanopowders was >99%. Nanopowders with different dopants have been synthesized over a 10–200 nm size range, with low-cost, high-purity precursors that are viable for large-scale production. Great strides have also been made in developing highly dense (>99% theoretical density) polycrystalline Nd-doped YAG pellets using vacuum sintering and hot isostatic pressing (HIP). This method is an alternative to the Czochralski method for making single-crystal ceramic bodies, which has several disadvantages including high cost, size, shape restrictions, and limitations in Nd concentrations (∼1 at %). Nanomaterials also enable higher percentages of Nd to be incorporated into the YAG lattice which improves laser efficiency and >85% near IR transmission, thereby reducing scattering losses associated with larger grain-size polycrystalline materials.
Highlights
In a little over a decade, ceramic-laser hosts have proven themselves as being a promising option for enabling highpower solid-state laser systems at significantly lower costs compared to single-crystal gain medium
Polycrystalline ceramic laser materials can be fabricated at relatively low temperatures (
The X-ray diffraction scans (XRD) scan for a Lu-carboxylatederived nanopowder in Figure 3 shows that the target Lu2O3 phase (ICDD-JCPDS no. 12-0728) was achieved, even in as-synthesized form
Summary
In a little over a decade, ceramic-laser hosts have proven themselves as being a promising option for enabling highpower solid-state laser systems at significantly lower costs compared to single-crystal gain medium. The enabling NanoSpray Combustion process used to make the nanopowders discussed in this publication is proprietary to nGimat It is an outbranch of nGimat’s combustion chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) process which has been demonstrated to create thin films of many different compositions at a high rate for low cost [14, 15]. While CCVD process can be used to form nanostructured thin films, the version of this process that is used to make nanopowders is referred to as combustion chemical vapor condensation (CCVC). As-made films or nanopowders are suitable for the application, thereby minimizing the need for timeconsuming postdeposition or postcollection treatments These compelling advantages of the nGimat NanoSpray Combustion technique offer great potential to manufacture better and lower cost nanopowders than competing methods such as solution-precipitation, spray-pyrolysis, traditional CVD, and plasma-arc techniques.
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