INFRARED TRANSMISSION OF SINTERED 3 MOL-PERCENT Y2O3ZRO2 GEL

Translucent ZrO2 film was successfully prepared by gelling hydrotherma lly produced nano-ZrO2 powders. The film (300 mu m thick) was found to transmit light to 6.5 mu m (40% transmission) when sintered at 1200 d egrees C, but transmission was totally lost after sintering at 1300 de grees C for 1 h. Residual organic material such as urea, which was use d for preparing the powder, dominated the transmission of the film in the region between 1.3 and 4.5 mu m when sintered below 1000 degrees C . When sintered above 1000 degrees C, the microstructure controlled th e transmission. Both organic residuals and the microstructure of the z irconia were found to determine the transmission in 4.5-6.5 mu m regio n.