| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
Materials Science & Technology 2019
|
| Symposium
|
Ceramic and Crystal Materials for Optics and Photonics
|
| Presentation Title |
Additive Manufacturing of Transparent Ceramics |
| Author(s) |
Zachary Seeley, Timothy Yee, Nerine Cherepy, Stephen Payne |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Zachary Seeley |
| Abstract Scope |
A unique opportunity that polycrystalline optical ceramics provide is the ability to form a tailored composition profile throughout the 3-dimensional bulk of the optic. Unlike most glass and single crystal optics, ceramics are fabricated from a solid green body and densified through a solid-state sintering process. This allows a green body with tailored composition, such as a doping gradient, to retain its compositional profile in the final optic. Laser gain media appears to be one application which could benefit from a tailored doping profile, promising to improve laser efficiency, mode control, and wavefront. We have fabricated core-clad Nd:YAG rods with a doping profile and achieved lasing when installed in a commercial laser head. Additionally, Yb:YAG waveguides have achieved single mode propagation. Compositionally tailored optics will soon find uses in other applications. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-765918 |