TEM observation of liquid phase sintering in V2O5 modified Zr0.8Sn0.2TiO4 microwave ceramics

The phenomena of liquid phase sintering in the V2O5 modified (Zr0.8, Sn0.2)TiO4 (ZST) microwave ceramics has been investigated by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS). The amounts of second phase were too low to be detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD), but could be observed by TEM bright field image. However, the presence of grain boundary phases did not degrade the microwave properties of V2O5 modified ZST ceramics. The ɛr value of 37.2, Q × f value of 51,000 (at 7 GHz) and τf value of −2.1 ppm/°C were obtained for ZST ceramics with 1 wt% V2O5 addition sintered at 1300 °C.