Transport properties of microwave sintered pure and glass added MgCuZn ferrites

• MgCuZn ferrite was successfully prepared by novel microwave sintering (MS) method.
• The sintering temperature was notably reduced from 1150 °C to 950 °C for MS.
• Temperature dependence of DC conductivity and AC conductivity are studied.
• 1 wt% PBS glass added MS MgCuZn ferrite samples are suitable for core materials in multilayer chip inductors (MLCI).

A series of pure stoichiometric and 1 wt% lead borosilicate (PBS) glass added MgCuZn ferrite with the general formula Mg0.5CuxZn0.5−xFe2O4 with x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25 and 0.3 were synthesized by microwave sintering technique. Single phase spinel structure is exhibited by the XRD patterns of these ferrites. DC and AC conductivity were investigated as a function of composition, temperature and frequency. DC conductivities were also estimated using the impedance spectroscopy analysis of Cole–Cole plots. The DC conductivities thus obtained are in good agreement with the experimental results. All the investigated samples exhibited two regions of conductivity one in the low temperature and the second in the high temperature region. It is observed that PBS glass added samples have lower conductivities than pure samples. Due to their lower conductivities and sintering temperatures the 1 wt% PBS glass added samples are suitable for multilayer chip inductor (MLCI) and high definition TV deflection yoke material application.