Highly transparent polycrystalline Er3+:Y3Al5O12 (Er:YAG) ceramics with different Er3+ ions content from 1% to 90% were prepared by the solid-state reaction and the vacuum-sintering technique. The grain boundary is clean and narrow with a width of about 1 nm. The best sintering temperature of the ceramics is about 1800 degrees C. The relationships between fabrication, microstructure and transparency of the ceramics were discussed. Grain size distributions in axial direction of cylinder samples were characterized by electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA). The luminescence spectra were measured and discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.