Excellent transparent YAG (Y3Al5O12) ceramics containing Ce additives of 0.
06 to 3.8 mol% and small amount of Si as sintering aids were fabricated by
a simple solid-state reaction method using high-purity powders of Y2O3, Al2
O3 and CeO2. Ce : YAG ceramics, after vacuum sintering at 1750 degreesC for
10 h, became fully transparent. Ce : YAG ceramics obtained was confirmed o
ptically perfect isotropy in the dark field image under crossed nicols usin
g a polarizing microscopy. When the electron beam irradiated to Ce:YAG cera
mics with perfect optically isotropy and pore-free structure, the fluoresce
nt image for the electron beam became extremely homogeneous and clear.