Fabrication of Er:Y₂O₃ transparent ceramics for 2.7 μm mid-infrared solid-state lasers

• Main Authors: Yin, Danlei, Wang, Jun, Wang, Ying, Liu, Peng, Ma, Jie, Xu, Xiaodong, Shen, Deyuan, Dong, Zhili, Kong, Ling Bing, Tang, Dingyuan
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering; Engineering::Materials; Solid-State Lasers; Mid-Infrared
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161135
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Laser grade 7 at.% Er:Y2O3 transparent ceramics with submicron grain size were fabricated by using one-step vacuum sintering followed by hot isostatic pressing (HIPing) technique. Through studying the sintering trajectory of Er:Y2O3 ceramics, the sintering temperature zone where sufficient relative density (>96%), no pore-boundary separation, and sub-micron grain size (<1 μm) ceramic samples could be identified. The samples pre-sintered in this zone were readily densified by HIPing. To maximum the densification and achieve high transparency, it is critical to suppress the final-stage grain growth. After HIPing at 1520 °C, the Er:Y2O3 ceramics were fully densified without further grain growth, and exhibited in-line transmission of about 81.6% at 2000 nm. Continuous wave (CW) room temperature laser operation of the Er:Y2O3 transparent ceramic at 2.7 μm was demonstrated.