Structural and microwave dielectric behavior of (Li1/4Nb3/4) substituted ZrxSnyTizO4 (x + y + z = 2) system

The phase structure, microwave dielectric properties, and their stability with different annealing conditions have been investigated in (Li1/4Nb3/4) substituted ZrxSnyTizO4 system. The sintering temperature of ZrxSnyTizO4 ceramic was lowered from 1500 to 1140 °C by (Li1/4Nb3/4) substitution. Both X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and electron diffraction (ED) analysis revealed that the (Li1/4Nb3/4) substituted ZrxSnyTizO4 ceramic crystallized as the high-temperature disordered ZrTiO4 phase. As the content of Sn increased from 0.10 to 0.30, the permittivity of the (Zr1−xSnx)(Li1/4Nb3/4)0.4Ti0.6O4 ceramic decreased gradually from 35.5 to 31.5, the Qf value increased from 37,800 to 58,300 GHz, and TCF value shifted slightly from −4.5 to −33.0 ppm °C−1. Both the phase structure and microwave dielectric properties of (Zr1−xSnx)(Li1/4Nb3/4)0.4Ti0.6O4 ceramics were stable with annealing conditions.