Microwave Sintering of Large Products

Abstract

A practical microwave ceramic sintering technology has been developed. To achieve the highest merit from microwave sintering, susceptors were not used. In this paper, the ceramic sintering process using the 28GHz mm-wave energy generated by a Gyrotron oscillator is described. Large sized (Φ 200 × 200 ) and complex shaped material of Si₃N₄, A1₂O₃, and ZrO₂ were successfully and reproducibly sintered. The sintered bodies exhibited high density and fine crystalline structure. The processed materials were found to have exceptional strength and toughness.

The critical processing technology developed dealt with the means by which uniform and defect free sintered bodies are obtained. The processing stressed the importance of achieving a uniform electric field within the applicator and to decrease the sintering dependence on the materials’ temperature based dielectric loss properties. With the use of innovative support and thermal insulation structures, the processing system allowed for very precise temperature controls.