Clean-room and {CO2-Laser} Processing of Ultra {High-Purity} {Al2O3}

Clean-room powder processing, furnace firing, and CO 2 -laser heating techniques to produce high-purity Al 2 O 3 ceramics were applied to a new source of high-purity Al 2 O 3 ( 〉13 ppm total and 〉8 ppm cation detected impurities). The chemical analyses of the material after each stage of processing and firing indicate that the procedures used in this work give no detectable contamination of the material. The microstructure of a CO 2 -laser ultra high-purity Al 2 O 3 is illustrated. Densification is incomplete for this material. Calcination and deagglomeration were not optimized. Procedures, such as these are required to control the trace impurity contents in a fired ceramic material