Thermal conductivity of transparent Yb - doped YAG ceramics at elevated temperatures

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) transparent ceramics doped with Yb3+ ions find application in ultrafast and high-power lasers, where a significant amount of heat is generated. Udoped YAG is used in high temperature applications, such as arc tubes for lamps. For such applications, it is necessary to know the material properties for the the engineering of the devices. The presented work studied the influence of dopant (Yb) concentration on the thermal properties of Yb:YAG ceramics at elevated temperatures. The aim is to provide a description of the thermal properties and with respect both to the dopant content and to temperature. An empirical fit is proposed for the temperature dependence of thermal diffusivity.