(1-x)BaTiO3-x(Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 ceramics for multilayer ceramic capacitors

(1-x)BaTiO3-x(Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 ceramics with 0.0 <= x <= 0.08 formed a homogeneous solid solution. As (Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 (NKN) was added, the Curie temperature of the BaTiO3 (BT) ceramics decreased and specimens became a relaxor as x exceeded 0.04. The grain size of the BT ceramics decreased with increasing NKN. The average grain size was approximately 0.4 mu m at x=0.06. The dielectric constant (epsilon(r)) of the specimen increased with increasing NKN and high epsilon(r) of 7402 with low dielectric loss of < 1.0% was observed for the 0.94BT-0.06NKN ceramic. Therefore, the 0.94BT-0.06NKN ceramic is proposed as a promising candidate material for thin multilayer ceramic capacitors with high capacitance. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.