Effect of sintering conditions on optical and mechanical properties of MgAl2O4/Al2O3 laminated transparent composite fabricated by spark-plasma-sintering (SPS) processing

•MgAl2O4/Al2O3 laminated composite with high transparency and hardness can be obtained by a simple one step SPS processing.•The laminated composite can attain the high and wide band transmittance, and mechanical properties simultaneously.•The in-line transmission of laminated composite are similar to those of the monolithic MgAl2O4.•The Vickers hardness of the laminated composite is higher than those of the monolithic Al2O3 and MgAl2O4.•The high optical and mechanical properties are owing to the smaller grain sizes and higher densities in the composite.