Composition, microstructures, and magnetic properties of Bi-modified NiCuZn-ferrite for low temperature Co-fired ceramic application

The effects of Ni2+ and Bi3+ substitution on the microstructural development and magnetic properties of low-temperature-fired NiCuZn ferrites with nominal compositions of NixCu0.21 Zn0.79-xBiyFe2-yO4 (x=0.1-0.5, y=0-0.05) were investigated in order to develop low-temperature-cofired ferrite technology and to produce high-frequency devices with a multilayer process. For the Bi-modified NiCuZn ferrites, increasing x decreased the average grain size due to lattice contraction; meanwhile, the saturation flux density first increased and then decreased. We attributed this behavior to the change of superexchange between A-B sites and B-B sites in the spinel structure. We found that Bi3+ ions could enter into the ferrite lattice, which enhanced the grain growth and densification during sintering due to the activation of the lattice. A study of the solid-state reaction kinetics of Bi-modified NiCuZn ferrites revealed that Bi3+ modification decreased the early activation temperature and the ferrite formation temperature; thus, Bi3+ modification could reduce the activation energy of the solid-state reaction. The Bi-substituted samples with x = 0.35 and y = 0.02 had compact, uniform microstructures, and high sintering densities, leading to relatively high values of permeability and Q-factor. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.