Plasma Etch Resistance Properties of Transparent YAG Ceramics

High quality transparent yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) ceramics have been prepared by a solid state reactive sintering method under vacuum using commercial Al2O3 powder and Y2O3 powder as starting materials. The microstructure and the plasma etch resistance properties of YAG transparent ceramics sintered at different temperatures were studied. The results show that the grain size of YAG ceramics and optical quality increase when the sintering temperature increases from 1720 degrees C to 1780 degrees C. The plasma etch resistance of YAG transparent ceramics increases also with the increase of sintering temperature. The etching mechanism of plasma is mainly the physical ion bombardment and sputtering effect. The quality and grain size of YAG ceramics have a notable effect on plasma etch resistance properties of transparent ceramics.