Crystallization of glass materials into transparent optical ceramics

Latest advancements in transparent ceramics development have ensured a mainstream research interest in this family of materials. Crystallization of glass into transparent ceramics has emerged recently as an alternative but complementary trajectory for obtaining transparent ceramics, which circumvents some of the long-standing technical difficulties associated with traditional transparent ceramics processing. The full bulk glass crystallization allows for the synthesis of high-density/low-porosity transparent ceramics of stable and metastable phases or even non-cubic structures, which are difficult to obtain using the traditional processing methods. This article presents a brief survey of the science of the transparency of ceramics and a detailed overview of the materials systems and techniques used for the preparation of transparent ceramics through the glass crystallization route. Finally, the review provides authors' insights into the future trends and research directions aimed to encourage a widespread application of glass crystallization into transparent ceramics in the fabrication of next-generation materials.