Crystallization of ceramic

Many other techniques can be used to produce single crystals solid-solid phase transformations or growth from gels are modem examples. Although such methods may be useful in the laboratory for producing small single crystals of ceramics they are not currently of commercial importance. 

Shimada S., Hirano S., Kuwabara M. Two-dimensional photonic crystals of ceramic pillars fabricated by a solution method. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 2003 42 6721-6725 Shimooka H., Kuwabara M. Preparation of dense BaTiOj ceramics from sol-gel-derived monolithic gels. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 1995 78 2849-2852... 

Fig. 4. Effect of isovalent substitutions on crystal stmcture transition temperatures of ceramic BaTiO where ( ) represents Pb (—), Ca and ( ) substitution for Ba and (—) and ( ) substitution for. Transition temperatures for pure BaTiO are 135, 15, and...

Most glass-ceramics have low dielectric constants, typically 6—7 at 1 MHz and 20°C. Glass-ceramics comprised primarily of network formers can have dielectric constants as low as 4, with even lower values (K < 3) possible in microporous glass-ceramics (13). On the other hand, very high dielectric constants (over 1000) can be obtained from relatively depolymerized glasses with crystals of high dielectric constant, such as lead or alkaline earth titanate (11,14). 

Both anatase and mtile are broad band gap semiconductors iu which a fiUed valence band, derived from the O 2p orbitals, is separated from an empty conduction band, derived from the Ti >d orbitals, by a band gap of ca 3 eV. Consequendy the electrical conductivity depends critically on the presence of impurities and defects such as oxygen vacancies (7). For very pure thin films, prepared by vacuum evaporation of titanium metal and then oxidation, conductivities of 10 S/cm have been reported. For both siugle-crystal and ceramic samples, the electrical conductivity depends on both the state of reduction of the and on dopant levels. At 300 K, a maximum conductivity of 1 S/cm has been reported at an oxygen deficiency of... 

In the flux-growth method, crystals of the desired ceramic are precipitated from a melt containing the components of the product phase, often in addition to additives used to suppress the melting point of the flux. These additives remain in solution after crystal growth is complete. Crystals are precipitated onto seeds by slowly cooling the melt or the seed, or occasionally by evaporating volatile components of the melt such as alkaH haHdes, depressing the solubiHty of the product phase. 

The piopeities of a ceramic material that make it suitable for a given electronic appHcation are intimately related to such physical properties as crystal stmcture, crystallographic defects, grain boundaries, domain stmcture, microstmcture, and macrostmcture. The development of ceramics that possess desirable electronic properties requires an understanding of the relationship between material stmctural characteristics and electronic properties and how processing conditions maybe manipulated to control stmctural features. 

As already remarked in Sect. 4.5.1 (Introduction), LA was primarily designed as a technique for direct sampling in the bulk analysis of solid samples. The main advantages of LA are the possibility of ablating all types of solid material (metals, isolators, glasses, crystals, minerals ceramics, etc.), no special requirements on the... 

Kobayashi et al. [508] developed an effective method to control particle size and fluoride content in granular tantalum oxide and niobium oxide. The resultant powders are suitable for application in the manufacturing of ceramics, single crystals, optical glass, etc. 

Ceramic materials are typically noncrystalline inorganic oxides prepared by heat-treatment of a powder and have a network structure. They include many silicate minerals, such as quartz (silicon dioxide, which has the empirical formula SiO,), and high-temperature superconductors (Box 5.2). Ceramic materials have great strength and stability, because covalent bonds must be broken to cause any deformation in the crystal. As a result, ceramic materials under physical stress tend to shatter rather than bend. Section 14.22 contains further information on the properties of ceramic materials. 

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