Mesoscale modeling of light transmission modulation in ceramics

We present a modeling approach for predicting spatially-resolved properties of polycrystalline ceramics. The model yields excellent agreement with experimental results obtained for Al₂O₃, Ce-doped Y₃Al₅O₁₂ and ZnS. Simulations of the transmission modulation under applied electromechanical fields predict switching from full transparency to opacity, in some instances. The results of this investigation highlight a remarkable promise of functional microceramics for a range of advanced applications.

Description

Magnitude of the electric displacement field shown by the color bar and its vector direction is visualized with arrows. The polycrystalline sample exhibits a mixture of wurtzite and sphalerite phases in the grains. This particularly sample shown is under 0.4% compression out of plane of the image.

Contact person: John Mangeri
Collaborating institutions: Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, United States.