Synthesis and characterization of structural and optical properties of Ce, U codoped YAG transparent ceramics

Abstract

We presented the fabrication of both U-doped and (Ce, U) co-doped YAG transparent ceramics by the vacuum sintering method for neutron detection, which has not been seen in literature to date. The microstructure and optical property of the samples were investigated. Tetravalent was found to be the only valence state of U in YAG under high vacuum and with Ca(NO3)2·4H2O as the sintering aid. No pores and a second phase were found in Ce0.2,U0.2:YAG ceramics, and the grain size is uniform and of micron scale. The in-line transmittance of U0.2:YAG and Ce0.2,U0.2:YAG ceramics were measured to be as high as 79.04% and 80.24% in the visible light region, respectively. The results indicate that this material would be a promising candidate for the potential applications of neutron detection.