Effect of Ga2O3 addition on the properties of Y2O3-doped AlN ceramics

Effect Ga2O3 addition on the densification and properties of Y2O3-doped AlN ceramics was investigated under the constraint of total sintering additives (Y2O3 and Ga2O3) of 4.5 wt%. Ga was detected in the AlN grain as well as the grain boundary phases. YAlO3 and Y4Al2O9 were observed as the secondary crystalline phases in all of the investigated compositions. As the substitution of Ga2O3 for Y2O3 increased, the quantity of the Y4Al2O9 phase decreased while that of YAlO3 was more or less similar. Neither additional secondary phases was identified, nor was the sinterability inhibited by the Ga2O3 addition; the linear shrinkage and apparent density were above 20 percent and 3.34-3.37 g/cm3, respectively. However, the optical reflectance and the elastic modulus generally decreased whereas the Poisson ratio increased significantly. The dielectric constant and the loss tangent of 4.0Y2O3-0.5Ga2O3-95.5Y2O3 at the resonant frequency of 8.22 GHz were 8.63 and 0.003, respectively.