We report on the first achievement of CW oscillation in Yb3+:Lu2O3 ceramic lasers (2F5/2 → 2F7/2 channel) under LD‐pumping at 0.976 µm wavelength, as well as present of the thickness of grain boundary layers in Lu2O3 ceramics was estimated under non‐equilibrium acoustic phonon propagation kinetics at helium temperature (2.4–3.8 K). (© 2006 by Astro, Ltd. Published exclusively by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA)