Abstract
The effect of Zr-species addition on the microwave dielectric properties of Ba(Mg 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 , BMT materials was examined. The sintering behavior and the microwave dielectric properties of the BMT materials varies with the routes by which the Zr-species were incorporated. Two-step process leads to pronounced improvement, whereas single-step process results in markedly degradation on microwave Q-factor for the materials. SEM and X-ray diffraction analyses reveal that the main factor, resulting in deleterious effect due to addition of Zr-species via single-step process, in the induction on the formation of secondary phase, which is turn, is owing to the slow reaction kinetics of ZrO 2 and BaCO 3 for the formation of BaZrO 3 perovskite phase. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.