First Translucent BaLaLiWO6 and BaLaNaWO6 Ceramics: Structural and Spectroscopic Behavior of Passive and Nd3+-Doped Sintered Bodies

This work highlights the feasible fabrication of translucent ceramics from un-doped and Nd3+-doped BaLaLiWO6 (BLLW) and BaLaNaWO6 (BLNW) cubic tungstates using the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method. Ceramics were sintered using pure-phase, homogeneous powders with submicron particle sizes, obtained via the solid-state reaction method. The present study investigated the microstructural, structural, and spectroscopic properties of both un-doped and Nd3+-doped sintered specimens. All the ceramic materials exhibited certain drawbacks that significantly contributed to their low transparency in both sample types. However, initial spectroscopic tests on sintered translucent ceramics doped with Nd3+ ions revealed promising properties, comparable to those of the powdered samples. Therefore, we believe that producing higher-quality ceramics would improve their spectroscopic properties. For that, further optimization of the manufacturing conditions is necessary.