Physical and microwave dielectric properties of the MgO-SiO2 system

Abstract

Unreported dielectrics based on the binary system of MgO-SiO2 were investigated as potential candidates for microwave dielectric applications, particularly those demanding a high fired density and high quality factors. Extensive dielectric compositions having different molar ratios of MgO to SiO2, such as 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, and 5:1, were prepared by conventional solid state reactions between MgO and SiO2. 1 mol% of V2O5 was added to aid sintering for improved densification. The dielectric compositions were found to consist of two distinguishable phases of Mg2SiO4 and MgO beyond the 2:1 compositional ratio, which determined the final physical and dielectric properties of the corresponding composite samples. The increase of the ratio of MgO to SiO2 tended to improve fired density and quality factor (Q) without increasing grain size. As a promising composition, the 5MgO.SiO2 sample sintered at 1400 °C exhibited a low dielectric constant of 7.9 and a high Q × f (frequency) value of ~99,600 at 13.7 GHz.