Transparent Polycrystalline Magnesium Aluminate Spinel Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering

Polycrystalline magnesium aluminate (MgAl₂O₄) spinel (PMAS) exhibits a unique combination of physical, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties, which makes it useful for a wide range of applications, including UV lenses for lithography, electroinsulation, and structural windows for both VIS and IR region radiation and armor applications. Conventional two-stage processing of PMAS involves prolonged pressureless sintering followed by hot isostatic pressing. The costly processing of high-quality transparent PMAS ceramic is the main reason for the limited usage of this material in industry. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is a relatively novel one-stage, rapid, and cost-effective sintering technique, which holds great potential for producing high-quality optical materials. Here, recent advances in the fabrication of transparent PMAS by the SPS approach, the influence of sintering parameters on microstructure evolution during densification, and their effects on the optical and mechanical properties of the material are reviewed.