The Role of Microstructure on Microwave Dielectric Properties of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 Ceramics

Microstructural effects on the microwave dielectric properties of (Ba0.4Sr0.6)TiO3 (BST) polycrystalline ceramics were investigated, focusing on the grain size. Sintering temperatures between 1350 degrees C and 1500 degrees C have a strong effect on the permittivity (880<epsilon(r)<990), quality factor (570GHz<Qxf <1150GHz), and temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (3920ppm/degrees C<(f)<4560ppm/degrees C) at microwave frequency (approximate to 1.4GHz). The tunable permittivity characteristics (measured at 10kHz), were also found to be sensitive to the sintering process, demonstrating the possibility of tailoring material property by designed processing. In addition, the effect of the sintering process on grain structure was investigated by XRD calculation and Raman scattering characterization. Less confined phonons were believed to contribute to the enhanced microwave performance as an intrinsic effect (grain size effect), for samples with higher sintering temperature and longer dwell time. On the contrary, the macroscopic properties tend to saturate (or deteriorate), for samples at intensified sintering condition, being thought to be dominated by the extrinsic factors (such as the abundant defects in large grains), as confirmed by the SEM observations.