Enhanced Microwave Dielectric Properties of (Zr_0.8,Sn_0.2)TiO₄ Ceramics with the Addition of Its Own Nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanoparticles of (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 (ZST) ceramics were prepared by ball milling. Different concentrations of (1, 2 and 3 wt%) nanoparticles of size about 60 nm were introduced into the sub micron‐sized (0.8 μm) powder of the ZST ceramics to study the effect of their inclusion on densification, microstructure, and microwave dielectric properties of the ZST ceramics. It is found that the addition of nanoparticles to the ZST ceramics significantly improved the density with reduction in sintering temperature. In the present case, it is believed that the surface energy of fine powders and their defect energy are the driving force for sintering and increase in uniform grain size, which are activated at the sintering temperature. The microwave dielectric properties of ZST ceramics were also heavily influenced by the addition of nanoparticles of ZST. The maximum dielectric constant of 39.2 and Q × fo value of 72 900 were found to be for the samples added with 2 wt% of the nanoparticles and sintered at 1300°C for 3 h. However, it is observed that samples made with nanopowder alone exhibited poor sinterability.

Low temperature processing of (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 ceramics with improved Q factor

“…The specimen with large grain size is expected to have a high Q × f 0 value because the grain growth decreases the grain boundary area [12]. The comparison between the properties of the unmodified and modified (Zr 0.8 Sn 0.2 )TiO 4 ceramics along with their sintering conditions, bulk densities and the microwave dielectric properties are given in Table 1 [13]. The milling conditions were kept constant except for pure ZST ceramics.…”

Phase composition and microwave dielectric properties of SrTiO3 modified Mg2Al4Si5O18 cordierite ceramics

“…The dielectric constant (e r ) and the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (s f ) values were measured at around 13 GHz by the Hakki-Coleman method. The quality factor Q was evaluated by the resonant-cavity method in the TE 011 resonant mode [26], using a silver-coated cavity connected to the network analyzer (8753ES, Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA). The s f was measured at temperatures from 25°C to 85°C.…”

Sintering behavior and microwave dielectric properties of Y2O3–ZnO doped (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 ceramics

“…The (Zr 0.8 Sn 0.2 )TiO 4 (ZST) ceramics are well known as the materials utilized in microwave devices because of a high dielectric constant (e r [ 25), a quality factor (Q [ 3000) and a near-zero temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (s f \ ±10 ppm/°C), which are suitable candidate materials for contemporary miniaturized and integrated passive component applications [3][4][5][6]. But achieving properly densified ZST materials composition without sintering aids is difficult [7], plenty of researches have been pursed to improve the sinterability and lower the sintering temperature by adding some rare earth oxides such as La 2 O 3 , CeO 2 , Sm 2 O 3 , etc.…”