Journal
ACTA MATERIALIA
Volume 86, Issue -, Pages 148-156Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2014.11.045
Keywords
Transparent ceramics; Spark plasma sintering (SPS); Current-activated pressure-assisted densification (CAPAD); Thermal conductivity; Indent fracture toughness
Funding
- multidisciplinary research initiative (MRI) from the High Energy Lasers Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO)
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The low thermal conductivity and poor fracture toughness of traditional laser gain media (rare-earth-doped single crystals) limits the overall power deliverable from a laser system. We present an investigation of the thermomechanical properties of a promising laser gain candidate, Tb-doped aluminum nitride (Tb:AIN). We pay special attention to the effect of the average grain size and the dopant segregation at the grain boundaries on the relevant properties: Vickers hardness, fracture toughness and thermal conductivity. We find that all properties are affected by grain boundaries and/or dopant segregation. However, the thermal conductivity is significantly more affected than the mechanical properties and therefore dominates the thermal shock figure of merit, R. We obtained a thermal shock figure of merit in Tb:AIN more than 60 times that of the state-of-the-art laser gain material Nd:YAG. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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