Microwave sintering of transparent alumina

Transparent alumina samples have been successfully prepared by microwave sintering processing. in comparison to the conventional sintering processing, microwave sintering to transparent alumina can be achieved at lower sintering temperature and shorter sintering time. It was also found that the microwave heating could substantially increase the conversion rate of polycrystalline alumina to single crystalline sapphire, to improve the transparency and other properties of the transparent alumina samples. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.