Preparation of γ-AlON Transparent Ceramics by Pressureless Sintering

In this paper, AlON powders were prepared by carbothermal reduction and nitridation method. By adding a mixture of Y2O3, La2O3 and MgO as sintering agent, transparent AlON ceramics with high strength were fabricated by pressureless sintering at 1950°C for 8h under nitrogen atmosphere. The obtained ceramic had a relative density of 99.9% and average grain size of 150μm. The transmittance of the 2mm thick ceramics was 82.4% at 1100nm and flexural strength was 300 MPa.