Abstract
For the aim of low-temperature co-fired ceramic microwave components, sintering behavior and microwave properties (dielectric constant ${\varepsilon}_r$, quality factor Q, and temperature coefficient of resonant frequency ${\tau}_f$) are investigated in $Bi_{18}O(Ca_{0.725}Zn_{0.275})_8Nb_{12}O_{65}$ [BCZN] ceramics with addition of $V_2O_5$. The specimens are prepared by conventional ceramic processing technique. As the main result, it is demonstrated that the additives ($V_2O_5$) show the effect of lowering of sintering temperature and improvement of microwave properties at the optimum additive content. The addition of 0.25 wt% $V_2O_5$ lowers the sintering temperature to $890^{\circ}C$ utilizing liquidphase sintering and show the microwave dielectric properties (dielectric constant ${\varepsilon}_r$ = 75, quality factor $Q{\times}f$ = 572 GHz, temperature coefficient of resonance frequency ${\tau}_f\;=\;-10\;ppm/^{\circ}C$). The estimated microwave dielectric properties with $V_2O_5$ addition (increase of ${\varepsilon}_r$, decrease of $Q{\times}f$, shift of ${\tau}_f$ to negative values) can be explained by the observed microstrucure (sintered density, abnormal grain structure) and possibly high-permittivity $Bi_{18}Zn_8Nb_{12}O_{65}$ (BZN) phase determined by X-ray diffraction.
