Advanced control of crystallographic orientation in ceramics by strong magnetic field

Tailoring the microstructure in ceramics is important for improving ceramic properties. There are many parameters for controlling the microstructure, such as grain size, grain shape, grain boundary, and second phase. Crystallographic orientation is a particularly important parameter because its properties depend on the axis of the crystal structure. Various techniques can be used to control crystallographic orientation. A strong magnetic field can be applied to control the orientation even in diamagnetic ceramics and can be combined with other processes for fabricating the controlled microstructure. Therefore, magnetic alignment was the technique focused on in this review.