Effect of V2O5 Doping on the Sintering and Dielectric Properties of M-Phase Li1+x-yNb1-x-3yTix+4yO3 Ceramics

The effect of the addition of V2O5 on the structure, sintering and dielectric properties of M-phase (Li1+x-yNb1-x-3yTix+4y)O3 ceramics has been investigated. Homogeneous substitution of V5+ for Nb5+ was obtained in LiNb0.6(1-x) V0.6xTi0.5O3 for x ≤ 0.02. The addition of V2O5 led to a large reduction in the sintering temperature and samples with x = 0.02 could be fully densified at 900oC. The substitution of vanadia had a relatively minor adverse effect on the microwave dielectric properties of the M-phase system and the x = 0.02 ceramics had εr = 66, Q x f = 3800 at 5.6 GHz, and τf = 11 ppm/oC. Preliminary investigations suggest that silver metallization does not diffuse into the V2O5-doped M-phase ceramics at 900oC, making these materials potential candidates for low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) applications.