Effect of preparation process on properties of PLZT (9/65/35) transparent ceramics

Lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT 9/65/35) transparent ceramics were prepared by different methods. The excellent properties of the ceramics were obtained by partial co-precipitation method and microwave sintering, which reduced the sintering temperature from 1200 to 1000 °C, and shortened the sintering time from 180 to 20 min, compared with the traditional methods. The X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the presence of pure perovskite phase and highly crystalline of PLZT ceramics, i.e. the relative density was up to 96.5%. The dielectric constant of the ceramics were 3895. The hysteresis loop of PLZT ceramics prepared by partial co-precipitation method showed typical quadratic type, which would enable their applications in optical communication switches. The transparency of PLZT ceramics was investigated and the transmittance of 53.8% was obtained in PLZT at 850 nm.