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Transparent Yb:Y3ScAl4O12 (Yb:YSAG) ceramics with different ytterbium doping concentrations such as 5, 10, 15, 20 at.% have been successfully fabricated by solid‐state reactive sintering. All the obtained ceramics are in dense and homogeneous structure after sintering at 1820°C for 30 hours and with a posttreatment by hot isostatic pressing at 1750°C for 3 hours with 200 MPa pressure. We systematically analyzed the influence of Yb3+ doping concentration on the microstructure and optical properties of the ceramics. The 10 at.% Yb:Y3ScAl4O12 ceramics with a thickness of 3.2 mm show the best transparency as high as 80.9% at 1100 nm. The laser emission of the 10 at.% Yb:YSAG ceramics was tested, resulting in a maximum slope efficiency of 67.6% and a maximum output power of 11.3 W under quasi‐continuous wave pump conditions. The tuning range spanned from 990 to 1071 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, 5 at.% Yb:Lu2O3 transparent ceramics were fabricated by vacuum sintering combined with hot isostatic pressing (HIP) posttreatment using co‐precipitated nano‐powders. The influence of precipitant molar ratio, ammonium hydrogen carbonate, to metal ions (AHC/M3+, R value) on the properties of Yb:Lu2O3 precursors and calcined powders was investigated systematically. It was found that the powders with different R value calcined at 1100°C for 4 hours were pure cubic Lu2O3 but the morphologies of precursors and powders behaved differently. The opaque samples pre‐sintered at 1500°C for 2 hours grew into transparent ceramics after HIP posttreatment at 1750°C for 1 hour. The final ceramic with R = 4.8 showed the best optical quality with the in‐line transmittance of 79.7% at 1100 nm. The quasi‐CW laser operation was performed at 1034 nm and 1080 nm with a maximum output power up to 8.15 W as well as a corresponding slope efficiency of 58.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent ytterbium doped calcium-fluoride (Yb:CaF 2) ceramics were successfully fabricated by air pre-sintering and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) post-treatment from the powders synthesized by the co-precipitation method. The influence of pre-sintering temperature on the densification, microstructures and optical quality of 5 at.% Yb:CaF 2 ceramics was systematically investigated. The ceramic sample pre-sintered at 650 °C for 2 h and HIP post-treated at 650 °C for 1 h shows the best transparency with the in-line transmittance of 90% at 1200 nm. The upper level lifetime of the Yb3+ in Yb:CaF 2 ceramics was evaluated to be 1.95 ms by the pinhole method. In addition, the laser emission from an optimized 5 at.% Yb:CaF 2 ceramic sample yields in the maximum output power of 0.81 W with a maximum slope efficiency of 22.6% at 1028.5 nm under quasi-CW pumping. • Yb:CaF 2 nano-powders were synthesized by the co-precipitation method. • Yb:CaF 2 ceramics with the in-line transmittance of 90% were obtained by air pre-sintering and HIP post-treatment. • Yb:CaF 2 ceramic laser with the slope efficiency of 22.6% and the output power of 0.81 W was obtained at 1028.5 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yb,La:CaF 2 nano-powders doped with different Yb3+ concentrations as 1, 2, 3, 5 at.% were synthesized by the co-precipitation method. The Yb,La:CaF 2 powders which were in pure cubic CaF 2 phase. The Yb,La:CaF 2 transparent ceramics were prepared by the air pre-sintering at different temperatures for 2 h with hot isostatic pressing (HIP) post-treatment at 650 °C for 2 h under 62 MPa Ar. The influences of the Yb3+ doping concentration and pre-sintering temperature on optical quality and microstructures of ceramics were investigated. Among all the fabricated ceramics, the 3 at.%La,5 at.%Yb:CaF 2 transparent ceramics pre-sintered at 650 °C showed the best optical quality. For the 1 mm thickness sample, its in-line transmittance reached 92.6% at 1200 nm. Furthermore, the absorption and the emission cross sections of the ceramics were calculated. The strongest absorption and emission peaks are around 977 nm. The lifetime for the Yb,La:CaF 2 transparent ceramics at 1028 nm increased first and then decreased with further increasing the Yb3+ doping concentrations. • Yb,La:CaF 2 transparent ceramics were prepared by the air pre-sintering and HIP post-treatment. • The role of the pre-sintering temperature and Yb concentration on the Yb,La:CaF 2 ceramics were studied. • In-line transmittance of the fabricated 5 at.%Yb,3 at.%La:CaF2 ceramics is 92.6% at 1200 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yttrium (Y 2 O 3) nanopowders were synthesized via the precipitation method using ammonium hydrogen carbonate (AHC) as the precipitant. The influences of calcination temperature on the composition and morphology of the powders were investigated. Fine Y 2 O 3 powders with low-agglomeration were obtained by calcining the precursor at 1100 °C for 4 h. The primary crystallites were calculated to be ∼47 nm in size and weakly agglomerated to particles with size of ∼79 nm. Using the synthesized powders as the starting materials, Y 2 O 3 ceramics were fabricated by vacuum sintering at different temperatures combined with HIP post-treatment. The densification and micro-structure evolution of the Y 2 O 3 ceramics were systematically investigated. The ceramic sample vacuum sintered at 1500 °C for 2 h and post-HIPed at 1550 °C for 3 h exhibited a uniform and fine microstructure with the average grain of about 1.0 μm. The in-line transmittance of the ceramic sample reached 80.1% at 1100 nm. • Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramics were prepared by two-step sintering from the precipitated nano-powders. • Y 2 O 3 ceramics with the average grain size of 1.0 μm and in-line transmittance of 80.1% at 1100 nm were obtained. • The prepared Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramics are attractive for host materials without any sintering additives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]