has been shown fairly recently that laser elements (amplifiers, switches, ion hosts, etc.) made from fine-grained ceramic nanomaterials—produced by the low temperature sintering of high purity nanoparticles and powders—can be produced at a relatively low cost. These components are free of internal stress or intrinsic birefringence, and allow relatively large doping levels or optimized custom-designed doping profiles. This highlights the use of ceramic nanomaterials as being particularly important for high-energy laser elements and applications. Primary scattering centers in polycrystalline nanomaterials—made from the sintering of high purity nanoparticles and powders—include microstructural defects such as residual porosity and grain boundaries (see Transparent materials). Thus, opacity partly results from the incoherent scattering of light at internal surfaces and interfaces. In addition to porosity, most of the interfaces or internal surfaces in ceramic nanomaterials are in the form of grain boundaries which separate nanoscale regions of crystalline order. Moreover, when the size of the scattering center (or grain boundary) is reduced well below the size of the wavelength of the light being scattered, the light scattering no longer occurs to any significant extent. In the processing of high performance ceramic nanomaterials with superior opto-mechanical properties under adverse conditions, the size of the crystalline grains is determined largely by the size of the crystalline particles present in the raw material during the synthesis or formation of the object. Thus a reduction of the original particle size well below the wavelength of visible light (~ 0.5 μm or 500 nm) eliminates much of the light scattering, resulting in a translucent or even transparent material. Furthermore, results indicate that microscopic pores in sintered ceramic nanomaterials, mainly trapped at the junctions of microcrystalline grains, cause light to scatter and prevented true transparency. It has been observed that the total volume fraction of these nanoscale pores (both intergranular and intragranular porosity) must be less than 1% for high-quality optical transmission, i.e. the density has to be 99.99% of the theoretical crystalline density. Lasers Nd:YAG For example, a 1.46 kW Nd:YAG laser has been demonstrated by Konoshima Chemical Co. in Japan. In addition, Livermore researchers realized that these fine-grained ceramic nanomaterials might greatly benefit high-powered lasers used in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Programs Directorate. In particular, a Livermore research team began to acquire advanced transparent nanomaterials from Konoshima to determine if they could meet the optical requirements needed for Livermore's Solid-State Heat Capacity Laser (SSHCL). Livermore researchers have also