This paper examines the influence of SiO2 doping on densification and microstructure evolution in Nd3xY3−3xAl5O12 (Nd:YAG) ceramics. Nd:YAG powders were doped with 0.035–0.28 wt% SiO2 and vacuum sintered between 1484° and 1750°C. 29Si magic‐angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance showed that Si4+ substitutes onto tetrahedrally coordinated Al3+ sites. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy showed no grain boundary second phases for all silica levels in samples sintered at 1600°–1750°C. Coarsening was limited by a solute drag mechanism as suggested by cubic grain growth kinetics and transmission electron microscopy energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy observations of increased Nd3+ concentration near grain boundaries. Increasing SiO2 content increased both densification and grain growth rate and led to increasingly coarsening‐dominated sintering trajectories. Fine‐grained (<3 μm), highly transparent (>82% real in‐line transmission) ceramics were produced by sintering 0.035 wt% SiO2‐doped ceramics at 1750°C for 8 h. Coarse‐grained (18 μm), transparent samples were obtained with 0.28 wt% SiO2‐doped Nd:YAG when sintered at 1600°C for 8 h.

Multicomponent silicate glasses are ubiquitous in modern society as evidenced by their inclusion in applications ranging from building materials and microelectronics to biomedical implants. Of particular interest in this study is the interface between multicomponent silicate glasses and adhesive polymers. These polymeric systems often possess a variety of different organic functional groups. In this study, we selected acetic acid as a probe molecule representative of the carboxylic acid functional group found in many adhesives. We have used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and NMR to study the interaction of acetic acid with the surface of sodium aluminoborosilicate continuous glass fibers. Methods were developed that enable analyses to be carried out without damaging or altering the pristine as drawn fiber surface. While dosing the surface of fumed silica with acetic acid resulted in the formation of silyl ester groups, analogous dosing of sodium aluminoborosilicate glass fibers resulted in the formation of carboxylate species, principally coordinated to sodium, while silyl ester groups were not observed.