Reactive sintered highly transparent AlON ceramics with Y2O3-MgAl2O4-H3BO3 ternary additive

In this study, highly transparent aluminate oxynitride (AlON) ceramics were prepared via the reactive sintering of Al 2 O 3 and AlN powders using a Y 2 O 3 -MgAl 2 O 4 -H 3 BO 3 ternary sintering additive. The ternary doping process resulted in the efficient preparation of transparent AlON ceramics with small grains and high transmittance as compared to the binary doping (Y 2 O 3 -MgAl 2 O 4 ) process. The addition of 0.1 wt.% Y 2 O 3 -0.4 wt.% MgAl 2 O 4 -0.12 wt.% H 3 BO 3 resulted in the formation of a 4-mm-thick AlON ceramic with high transmittance (81% at 600 nm) and low haze (3.46%). This is the best performance in terms of the thickness and transmittance reported for AlON transparent ceramics prepared by the reactive sintering method.