LAUSR

A cost-effective processing route for the production of calcium lanthanum sulfide CaLa 2 S 4 (CLS) via a novel fast fabrication of precursor powders is reported. The sinterability of the newly developed powders was investigated by use of Hot-Pressing and pressureless sintering. Complementary techniques (XRD, SEM-EDS, chemical analysis, SSA, FT-IR spectroscopy) were employed to correlate the sintering processes and parameters to the microstructural/compositional developments and optical performances of the densified ceramics. Dense (>99.8% theor.) and homogeneous CLS ceramics were produced by pressureless sintering at 1250°C for 12 h in H 2 S followed by hot-pressing at 1000°C for 6 h in a powder bed to prevent sulfur loss. Transparency free of impurity absorption has been achieved in the LWIR region (optical transmission of 51% in the 12-14 mm range).