Visible and infrared transparency in lead-free bulk BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 nanoceramics

Multifunctional transparent ferroelectric ceramics have widespread applications in electro-optical devices. Unfortunately, almost all currently used electro-optical ceramics contain a high lead concentration. In this work, via coupling of spark plasma sintering with high pressure, we have successfully synthesized bulk lead-free transparent nanostructured BaTiO3 (abbreviated as BTO) and SrTiO3 (STO) ceramics with excellent optical transparency in both visible and infrared wavelength ranges. This success highlights potential ingenious avenues to search for lead-free electro-optical ceramics.