Highly transparent yttrium titanate (Y2Ti2O7) ceramics from co-precipitated powders

Abstract

Highly transparent yttrium titanate (Y2Ti2O7) ceramics were fabricated by vacuum sintering using co-precipitated powders for the first time. The effects of the powder calcination temperature on the phase composition, morphology of the calcined powders, and on the microstructure and transmittance of the Y2Ti2O7 ceramics were investigated. When the calcination temperature was above 850 °C, pure phase Y2Ti2O7 nanopowders with high sintering activity were obtained. Transparent Y2Ti2O7 ceramics were obtained after vacuum sintered at 1600 °C for 6 h and annealed at 1100 °C for 5 h in air. The highest transmittance reached 73% at 1000 nm when the calcination temperature was 1150 °C. The measured refractive index of Y2Ti2O7 ceramics was higher than 2.24 at the wavelength range of 350–1000 nm, making it a promising candidate for optical devices.