Temperature-stable (1–x)Ba12Zn0.5Zr0.5Nb9O36-xBaWO4 composite ceramics for low-temperature co-fired ceramics and dielectric resonator antenna applications

Low-temperature Co-Fired Ceramics necessitate low sintering temperatures to enable cofiring with base metals, while dielectric resonator antennas demand temperature-stable dielectric properties; hexagonal perovskite Ba12Zn0.5Zr0.5Nb9O36 (R3̅m) ceramics exhibit excellent microwave dielectric performance but suffer from a high sintering temperature (1475 °C) and undesirably high temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τf = 26.4 ppm/°C), limiting their practical applications. A synergistic strategy overcomes these critical bottlenecks by integrating BaWO4 (I41/a) for precise τf tuning and BaCu(B4O8) as a sintering aid to enable low-temperature sintering. XRD Rietveld refinement confirms the composites consist exclusively of impurity-free Ba12Zn0.5Zr0.5Nb9O36 and BaWO4 phases, and Raman spectroscopy validates the characteristic vibrational modes of NbO6 octahedra and [WO4]2– groups. The optimal composite at x = 0.89 exhibits exceptional all-around microwave dielectric properties (εr = 19.0, Q × f = 30100 GHz, τf = 3.0 ppm/°C) when sintered at 1000 °C, coupled with excellent chemical compatibility with Cu electrodes during cofiring. The DRA based on this composite delivers a broad 375 MHz bandwidth, 5.13 dBi gain, and 97.17% radiation efficiency at 9.14 GHz, highlighting its great potential for LTCC technology and microwave communication applications.

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