Densifying BaTiO3 Polycrystalline Ceramics Without Affecting Size and Ferroelectric Properties

High pressure and high temperature sintering (on the order of several MFa and up to 1400 degrees C) is the conventional process employed to achieve dense ceramics from polycrystalline materials. This traditional process influences microstructure and grain morphology of samples, affecting their physical properties and device performance. Here, we present the variation of grain size through the conventional one-step and compare it to two-step sintering for micron- and nano-sized particles. The effect of grain size on the spontaneous electric polarization and dielectric constant of BaTiO3 ceramics are investigated. We find that two-step sintering can achieve high relative densities, while minimizing grain growth. Such a study is of significant importance to enable the measurement of as-prepared samples, easing the understanding of size-dependent properties.