Improving the microwave dielectric properties of BiCu₃Ti₃FeO₁₂ with the addition of Bi₂O₃

Abstract

In this work, the influence of the addition of Bi₂O₃ on the dielectric properties in the microwave range of BiCu₃Ti₃FeO₁₂ (BCTFO) ceramic matrix and its potential application as a dielectric resonator antenna are analysed. X-ray diffraction shows that a reaction between BCTFO and Bi₂O₃ occurs that results in the formation of new crystalline phases. The morphology of the samples is studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and demonstrates a dependence of the grain size on the Bi₂O₃ content. From the Mössbauer spectroscopic analysis, it is found that the Fe³⁺ ions replace the Ti⁴⁺ in the crystalline structure. The addition of Bi₂O₃ also reduces the dielectric permittivity (ϵ_r), dielectric loss (tan δ) and the coefficient of the resonance frequency (τ_f) values. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out in order to obtain the antenna parameters and they demonstrate that BCTFO could be a potential candidate for devices operating in the S-band.

KEYWORDS:

• BiCu₃Ti₃FeO₁₂ (BCTFO)
• antennas
• microwave
• composite
• dielectric resonator antenna (DRA)

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Brazilian Research Agencies CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) (grant 402045/2013-0 and 402561/2007-4, Edital MCT/CNPq no 10/2007), CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (grant Project PNPD), FINEP - Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (grants INFRAPESQ-11 and INFRAPESQ-12), and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (FA9550-16-1-0127) for providing financial support and the X-Ray Laboratory of the Federal University of Ceará for XRD analysis. The authors would like to thank the Central Analítica-UFC (funded by Finep-CT-INFRA, CAPES-Pró-Equipamentos, and MCTI-CNPq-SisNano2.0) for microscopy measurements.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) (grant 402045/2013-0 and 402561/2007-4, Edital MCT/CNPq no 10/2007), CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (grant Project PNPD), FINEP - Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (grants INFRAPESQ-11 and INFRAPESQ-12), and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (FA9550-16-1-0127).