Influence of lead oxide addition on LnTiTaO6 (Ln = Ce, Pr and Nd) microwave ceramics

Abstract

The effect of PbO addition on the structural, processing and microwave dielectric properties of LnTiTaO 6 (Ln = Ce, Pr and Nd) ceramics are reported. Conventional solid state ceramic route was used for the preparation of samples. Phase pure LnTiTaO 6 (Ln = Ce, Pr and Nd) ceramics are prepared at a calcination temperature of 1300 • C. The samples are sintered at optimized temperatures. Addition of PbO reduces the sintering temperature. The crystal structure of the materials was analysed using X-ray diffraction techniques and the surface morphology of the sintered samples was analysed using scanning electron microscopy. The dielectric constant at microwave frequency range decreases for higher PbO addition for all the samples but the quality factor improves on small PbO addition. The thermal stability of resonant frequency was also improved with PbO addition on all the systems. A number of samples with improved microwave dielectric properties were obtained on all the systems suitable for practical applications.