Hexagonal BaFe12O19 ferrite films, having thicknesses ranging from 200–500μm, were prepared by a screen printing process followed by sintering heat treatments. Structural, magnetic, and microwave measurements confirmed that the polycrystalline films were suitable for applications in self-biasing microwave devices in that they exhibited a large remanence (4πMr=3800G), high hysteresis loop squareness (Mr∕Ms=0.96) and low microwave loss. A derivative linewidth ΔH of 310 Oe was measured at 55.6 GHz. This represents the lowest ΔH measured in polycrystalline hexaferrite materials. ΔH can be further improved by reducing porosity and improving the c-axis orientation of grains in polycrystalline ferrite.

Barium hexaferrites (BaFe12O19) are especially useful for microwave/millimeter devices. Due to large ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) loss (linewidths >2kOe), traditional compacts of polycrystalline Ba ferrites indeed hinder the utilization of the materials for practical devices. The present experiment demonstrates that the quasi-single-crystal Ba ferrite disks can be fabricated by a single solid-state reaction technique without liquid phase participation, combining with a processing of alignment for the ferrite seed crystals. The ferrite bulks show a pure hexagonal Ba ferrite phase, an expected 4πMs of 4.48kG, and coercivity of 10∼20Oe along the c axis, similar to the results of a typical single crystal. The FMR measurement indicates that the sample yields an anisotropy field of 16.0kOe and a linewidth of about 300Oe at U-band frequencies. Although the linewidth is broader than ideal Ba ferrite single crystals (ΔH<100Oe), it may be possible to reduce to 100Oe by eliminating pores, cracks, local grain boundary, and nonuniformity. In terms of material preparation, we believe that it is cost effective in the production of future microwave devices.

BaFe 12 O 19 hexaferrite thick films having high hysteresis loop squareness ͑M r / M s ͒ and low ferromagnetic resonance ͑FMR͒ linewidths were processed through the use of a screen printing technique coupled with hot-press sintering. Scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements exhibit strong crystallographic c-axis alignment of crystals perpendicular to the film plane. Static magnetic resonance and FMR measurements were performed to determine the effect of the preparation technique on magnetic hysteresis and microwave properties. Hot pressing during sintering produced dense thick films having high squareness ͑Ͼ0.95͒ and reduced coercivity ͑ϳ1900 Oe͒. Of greater importance was the measurement of a minimum peak-to-peak FMR linewidth, 320 Oe at the U band, for films ranging in thickness from 100 to 500 m. Theoretic estimates suggest that such narrow linewidths can be attributed to the reduction in porosity and the improvement in c-axis orientation of crystallites in polycrystalline barium ferrite films. As such, haxaferrite materials prepared using this technique offer opportunities in the next generation of self-biased planar microwave devices.

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