Transparent La_(2-x)Gd_xZr_2O_7 ceramics obtained by combustion method and vacuum sintering

摘要

Transparent La_(2-x)Gd_xZr_2O_7 (x = 0-2.0) ceramics were prepared via vacuum sintering from nanometric powders synthesized by a simple combustion method. The changes of phase composition, morphology and in-line transmittance of the resulting ceramics with Gd~(3+) content's variation were investigated. With the increase of Gd~(3+) content, the samples keep the pyrochlore structure, but the X-ray diffraction peaks of the powders and ceramics shift to higher angle as the lattice parameters become smaller. All the ceramics are transparent with high in-line transmittance and high refractive index (2.08 @ 632.8 nm, x = 0.4-1.6). These results indicate that La_(2-x)Gd_xZr_2O_7 ceramics might be used as optical lens. Moreover, with the increase of Gd~(3+) content, the effective atomic number and density of the ceramics increase, therefore making them promising host candidates for scintillators.