| abstract |
An aluminum nitride sintered body having an oxygen concentration of not larger than 400 ppm, a metal impurity concentration of not larger than 150 ppm, and a carbon concentration of not larger than 200 ppm, and having an average crystal grain size of 2 µm to 20 µm exhibits particularly excellent optical properties such as an inclination of a spectral curve in the wavelength region of 260 to 300 nm of not smaller than 1.0 (%/nm), a light transmission factor of not smaller than 86% in the wavelength region of 400 to 800 nm, and a wavelength of not longer than 400 nm when the light transmission factor reaches 60% in the spectrum. |