Y2O3-MgO nanocomposites are promising materials for hypersonic infrared windows and domes due to their excellent mid- IR transmittance and mechanical properties. In this work, influence of SPS heating rate on the microstructure, IR transmittance, and mechanical properties of Y2O3-MgO nanocomposites was investigated. It was found that the average grain size decreases with a decreasing heating rate, which can be attributed to high defect concentration by rapid heating and deformation during densification. Also, the residual porosity decreases with a decreasing heating rate, which is ascribed to the enhancement of grain boundary diffusion by a large grain-boundary area (a small grain size). Consequently, high transmittance and hardness were attained by the low heating rate. On the other hand, the mechanical strength showed little difference with the heating rate change, which is somewhat different from the general knowledge on ceramics and will be discussed in this letter

Keywords: Infrared transparent ceramics, Y2O3-MgO nanocomposite, Spark plasma sintering, Heating rate