Effect of CeO2 and Nd2O3 on the Microstructure and Microwave Dielectric Properties of (Zr0.8,Sn0.2)TiO4 Ceramics.

(Zr0.8,Sn0.2)TiO4 (ZST) ceramics were prepared by solid-state reaction method with 1 wt% ZnO and 0.5-1.5 wt% CeO2 or Nd2O3 as sintering aids. The effect of processing parameters and additive concentration on the structure, microstructure and microwave dielectric properties of ZST ceramics were investigated. The dielectric constant (εr) and temperature coefficient of the resonance frequency (τf) were not significantly affected by the addition of these additives. The unloaded quality factors (Qu) were effectively promoted by CeO2 and Nd2O3 additions. εr values of 40 and 38.3, Qxfo values of 57,500 and 59,300 were obtained for the samples sintered with 1.5 and 0.5 wt% of CeO2 and Nd2O3 respectively. The improvement in Qxfo value is primarily attributed to the increase in uniform grain size and density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]