Influence of La2O3/SrO doping of (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 ceramics on their sintering behavior and microwave dielectric properties

Abstract The phase formation, microstructures, sintering behavior and microwave dielectric properties of (Zr 0.8 Sn 0.2 )TiO 4 (ZST) ceramics with diff–erent amounts of La 2 O 3 /SrO additives, fabricated by the conventional solid-state reaction route, were systematically investigated. Single-phase orthorhombic crystalline structure was detected in the X-ray diffraction patterns, and the La 2 O 3 /SrO additives were found to effectively reduce the sintering temperature of ZST ceramics to 1310 °C and improve the microwave dielectric properties as long as they were supplemented in the appropriate amount (0.25 wt% La 2 O 3 and 0.5 wt% SrO). Low cooling rate created significant improvement in the microwave dielectric properties of the ZST ceramics. A maximum Q × f of 41,000 GHz (at 5.6 GHz) associated with an e r of 39.56 and a τ f of −2.65 ppm/°C was achieved for ZST ceramics with 0.25 wt% La 2 O 3 and 0.5 wt% SrO sintered at 1310 °C for 5 h.