Internal strain formed in oxide ceramics upon spark-plasma sintering

Abstract

Spark-plasma sintering of oxide ceramics is shown to be capable of provoking internal strain. This finding, which in terms of materials design is invaluable, is based on an in-depth analysis of the Ti-L _2,3and O-Kelectron energy-loss near-edge structure of Ba₂TiSi₂O₈acquired in a dedicated scanning transmission electron microscope. The electronic structure of Ba₂TiSi₂O₈as probed by electron energy loss spectroscopy proved particularly sensitive to distortions of the titanium and oxygen environment.

Acknowledgements

Access to TEM facilities at MPI for Microstructure Physics Halle granted by U.M. Gösele is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are indebted to F. Breitbarth (Jena University, Germany) for performing electron spin-resonance spectroscopy. Zhijian Shen and Mats Nygren acknowledge the financial support of the Swedish Research Council (through 621-2005-6290).