Hot-pressed translucent aluminum oxynitride (AlON) ceramics

AlON with a composition of Al<inf>23</inf>O<inf>27</inf>N<inf>5</inf> was prepared by hot pressing at temperatures lower than 1900°C. The microstructures and final properties, including both mechanical properties and optical properties, of the sintered specimens were studied. The results showed that sintering temperature had a great influence on the densification of specimens and could lead to very different properties, especially the optical transmittance and the maximum infrared transmission.