Development of Ceramics with Highly Organized Microstructures
Abstract
Enhanced spatial control of microstructure development during sintering allows for access to finely engineered properties in ceramics. Predominately single phase ceramics with highly organized microstructures have been fabricated in two different systems: Al(2)O(3) and BaTiO(3). In the Al(2)O(3) system, samples were processed with a focus on spatial control of microstructure development. Distinct regions of different grain sizes, degree of texture, and single crystal were fabricated in situ within single samples. The size scale (down to approx. 5 m), morphology, periodicity, and connectivity of these regions were controlled during fabrication using conventional ceramic processing techniques. In the BaTiO(3) system, a different approach was taken. Patterned microstructures were obtained using two different photolithography based techniques. Grain growth enhancing dopants were patterned on the surface and subsequent heat treatments result in periodic regions of randomly oriented large grains. For the other approach, a patterned single crystal was used as local templates for solid state conversion of the polycrystal. In this experiment, significant growth of the single crystal regions (more than 0.5 mm in depth) was achieved in the presence of modest matrix coarsening.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA476608
Entities
People
- Gary Messing
- Susan Trolier-McKinstry
Organizations
- Pennsylvania State University