Yb:Sc2O3 transparent ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction and vacuum sintering method.CaO was added as sinteringaids by a high energy ball milling.Transparent nearly-fully dense samples were obtained after 1840 oC sintering.Using transmitted-light microscopewe get the grain sizes are more than 100 μm.Using spectrophotometer we get the absorption coefficient centered at 975 nm was 2.65 cm-1.The phosphorescence spectra showed that the line-widths(FWHM) at 975 and 1041 nm were about 4 and 10 nm and the lifetime of Yb ionsin Sc2O3 transparent ceramics was about 883 μs.According to the absorption and fluorescence band centers of Yb:Sc2O3 transparent ceramics,the level scheme of Yb3+ ions in Sc2O3 ceramics could be gotten.
