Manufacturing of transparent ZnS ceramics by powders sintering

We report the use of the low cost hot-pressing technique to produce ZnS for multispectral operation, from visible up to 12 μm. Considerable progress has been obtained by developing efficient precipitation and combustion powders synthesis procedures. The main emphasis has been on the elaboration of ZnS precursor powders with controlled morphology/chemical composition to reduce extrinsic scattering and impurities. We were able to produce ZnS parts with visible transparency and transmission in the 8-12 μm range that is comparable to that of CVD ZnS. The correlation of processing variables with powders sinterability and optical transmission of the HPed ceramics is discussed.