Residual porosity and optical properties of spark plasma sintered transparent polycrystalline cerium-doped YAG

Transparent cerium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Ce:YAG) phosphors are promising candidates for high-power white light emitting diode applications. In the present study, Ce:YAG powder was synthesized by a co-precipitation method and highly transparent ceramics were fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The effects of temperature and pressure, as well as post-sintering treatments (annealing or hot isostatic pressing), on residual porosity were studied by electron and confocal laser microscopy. Correlation between residual porosity characteristics (pore size and volume fraction) and optical properties (in-line transmittance and photoluminescence intensity) of the luminescent transparent ceramics was established.