Property of Composite Ceramics Composed of Single Crystals and Ceramic Matrix Using Hybrid Sintering

In a former study, the authors applied a hybrid process of microwave heating and hot pressing to the fabrication of ceramic composites from small single-crystal grains and powder of a relaxor-type material. The microstructure of the sintered ceramic composite shows that the hybrid sintering process generates a better boundary state between the single crystals and the ceramic matrix than the conventional sintering process using resistance heating. In this study, the performance of the fabricated ceramic composite was investigated by measuring stress induced by a DC field. The result shows that the generated stress of the ceramic composite fabricated by the hybrid sintering process (approximately 86 MPa) is approximately four times larger than that of conventionally sintered ceramic composites (24 MPa) under the same DC field. 26 refs.