TRANSPARENT CERAMIC, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND MAGNETO-OPTICAL DEVICE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magneto-optical element having performance equivalent to or more than those of single crystal materials such as existing terbium-gallium-garnet and provide a functional element whose birefringent component is extremely small in quantity and dispersion is also extremely little in both optical loss and optical homogeneity and for an optical isolator in the infrared region of 500 nm or more and 1.5 μm or less.

SOLUTION: The ceramics principally consists of 40% or more of terbium oxide (chemical formula: Tb2O3) in mole ratio and at least one kind of oxide selected from yttrium oxide, scandium oxide and lanthanide rare earth oxide, wherein (1) the crystal structure of ceramics in the terbium oxide system never contains heterogenous phases other than cubic crystals, (2) the average crystal grain size stays within the range of 0.5 to 100 μm, and (3) a sintering aid that never precipitates heterogenous phases other than the cubic crystals in the crystal structure of the ceramics in the terbium oxide system.

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