Key Engineering Materials Vol. 388

Abstract: The large negative temperature coefficient of resonant frequency ( τ f ) of Al2O3 is a problem for applicable microwave/millimeter wave dielectrics. A Previous study reported that the τ f was improved by sintering with TiO2 and then annealing, where the annealing decompose the secondary phase of Al2TiO5. This study investigated the hold time of annealing. The Quality factor (Qf ) value decreased when the sample was annealed at 1100°C for 2hrs. While Al2TiO5 was not detected by X-ray powder diffraction, it was located around TiO2 by scanning transmission electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It should be considered that the degradation of the Qf was caused by the existence of noncrystalline Al2TiO5 and new boundaries between noncrystalline Al2TiO5 and TiO2.

Abstract: Composite electromagnetic wave absorbers made of a soft magnetic material (permalloy or sendust) and polystyrene resin were investigated [1]. The volume mixture ratio of magnetic material was varied in the range from 18 vol% to 75 vol%. The composites with the low volume mixture ratio of soft magnetic material absorbed more than 99 % of electromagnetic wave power in the frequency range from 1 GHz to 10 GHz. The values of the real part
r’ of the relative complex permeability
r * for both magnetic materials were less than unity at frequencies above approximately 6 GHz as the volume mixture ratio of magnetic material increased. This result suggests the possible realization of an electromagnetic wave absorber that can operate above 10 GHz.

Abstract: Aluminum nitride ceramics were sintered with 1.0 and 4.8 mass% Ca3Al2O6 (C3A) as a sintering additive. Temperature dependence of cathodoluminescence (CL) for the ceramics was investigated in order to obtain information on lattice defects. The CL peak intensity at 3.5 eV in the ceramics sintered with 1.0 mass% C3A decreased with increasing temperature, so called thermal quenching. The maximum CL peak intensity of the ceramics sintered with 4.8 mass% C3A was much lower than that with 1.0 mass% C3A, reflecting that the oxygen-induced defect density dramatically decreased with increasing amount of C3A. In case of the ceramics sintered with 4.8 mass% C3A, the CL peak intensity at 3.4 eV showed the thermal quenching in the range of 130 - 350 K, whereas in the range of 80 - 130 K and 350 - 475 K, it increased with increasing temperature, so called “negative” thermal quenching. From the results, we suggest a presence of at least two trapping levels in the ceramics sintered with C3A.

Abstract: Dynamic visualization of stress distribution even due to a small deformation has been realized by coating the surface of the test object of metal with a upgrade mechanoluminescence (ML) material of SrAl2O4:Eu (SAO). In this paper we report the application of this ML sensing technique to stress concentration analysis on an aluminium plate. And the comparison with a theoretical calculation demonstrated that the ML intensity of SAO sensing film correlates linearly with von Mises stress on metal surface and the observed real-time ML images quantitatively reflect stress concentration.

Abstract: Atomistic mechanisms that restrain diffusion of oxygen vacancies in BaTiO3 doped with rare earth ions as donors were analyzed using molecular dynamics simulation. It was confirmed that formation of cation vacancies and reduction of lattice volume are sources of resistance for the diffusion. The cation vacancies trap the oxygen vacancies at the nearby O2- sites by an attractive force associated with Coulombic interaction. In contrast, the rare earth ions repel the oxygen vacancies, which migrate via O2- sites, and accelerate the diffusion. This is one of the factors that determine the restraint behavior of the diffusion, which depends on the type of rare earth ion in BaTiO3-based materials.

Abstract: The nanoscale local structure of core-shell structured BaTiO3 grains with a nonuniform dopant distribution was studied by convergent beam electron diffraction. The direct measurements of the variation of lattice parameter in an individual BaTiO3 grain were achieved. It was found that the lattice parameter continuously increased from inside the grain core to the grain shell and there was no discontinuity at the core/shell interface. The increasing gradient of c-axes was slightly smaller than that of a-axes, suggesting that the perovskite unit cell in the grain shell has lower tetragonality.

Abstract: We have demonstrated a novel blue-violet emitting mechanoluminscent(ML) material with calcium aluminosilicate(CaAl2Si2O8:Eu2+). The ML was clearly visible to the naked eye in the atmosphere and showed a similar spectrum to photoluminescence with a peak at 430nm. In order to enhance the ML intensity, various rare earth ions were selected as co-dopants including La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu. It was found that the intensity of ML was strongly dependent on the kinds of the codoped rare earth ion, especially the co-doping of Ho3+ was found to greatly enhance the ML intensity. From the results of thermoluminescence(ThL) measurements, the enhancement of the ML intensity was closely related with the filled trap concentration and trap depth.

Abstract: The synthesis of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 (BST) powders was attempted using KOH-KNO3 molten salt. Single-phase BST powders could not be obtained when stoichiometric powders were regardless of the molten salt composition. Only when powders with excessive TiO2 were used, single-phase BST powders were obtained. The shape and aggregation state of the single-phase BST powder changed according to the heating temperature and the molten salt composition.

Abstract: TiO2-based ceramic humidity sensors containing small amounts of Li2O and V2O5 were prepared by a solid-reaction method. The relationship between the pore structures of the sensors and one of the most important humidity properties, hysteresis in humidity sensitivity, was studied. The humidity sensitivity was investigated by measuring the impedance of the sensors under various conditions of humidity, and the pore-size distribution was measured by mercury-intrusion porosimetry and by the nitrogen-adsorption method. The hysteresis property of the sensors was shown to be significantly dependent on their microstructure, particularly the volume ratio of mesopores to all pores in the sensor elements. Nitrogen adsorption was found to be more useful than mercury porosimetry for determining the proportion of mesopores in the samples.

Abstract: We investigated the magnetic interaction between antiferromagnetic, magnetoelectric Cr2O3 film and ferromagnetic La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 film, which shows colossal magneto-resistance. Magnetic properties and structural analyses revealed that a decrease in the thickness of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films gives rise to a change in magnetic anisotropy from perpendicular to in-plane. The exchange interaction between Cr2O3 and La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 also changed depending on the magnetic properties of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3. This suggests that the crystallographical control and the selection of a suitable thickness of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 are important to obtain an exchange interaction in the magnetic hetero system using colossal magneto-resistance material.