Liquid phase sintering and chemical inhomogeneity in the Batio₃‐Baco₃‐Lif system

Abstract

An ongoing goal of multilayer capacitor research is to lower the firing temperature of the dielectric. This paper gives a comprehensive study of sintering BaTiO₃ with LiF flux which lowers the firing temperature through liquid phase sintering. A detailed set of experiments is discussed concerning microstructural evolution and corresponding dielectric properties under two processing variables: amount of LiF and sintering temperature. Different scales of chemical inhomogeneity were observed in this system which reflect two underlying mechanisms: solution reprecipitation with limited grain growth at low temperatures, which resulted in distinct core‐shell structures, and flux volatility, which gave rise to microscopic chemical inhomogeneity at higher sintering temperatures.

Key wards:

• liquid phase sintering
• multilayer ceramic capacitors
• barium titanate

Notes

Correspondence addressee