Effect of Sintering Process on Microstructures and Dielectric Properties of Nb-Doped BaTiO3-(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3 Ceramics for X9R MLCC Applications

Multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) chips have been successfully prepared through tape-casting and screen-printing. Conventional sintering method and two-step sintering method with different sintering temperature and holding time are used to obtain the MLCC chips. The scanning electron microscopes show that MLCC chips sintered by two-step sintering at T1=1200°C and T2=1130°C for 3h have a highly dense dielectric layer. The temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) of the MLCC chip is less than ±15% from-60°C to 235 °C that satisfactorily meets the requirement of X9R. The average capacitance and the dielectric loss of the MLCC chip are 88nF and 1.8% at the room temperature, respectively.