Structure, morphology, and microwave dielectric properties of SmAlO₃ synthesized by stearic acid route

A rapid and facile approach was developed for the synthesis of ultrafine SmAlO₃ powders through the combustion of stearic acid precursors. The obtained products were characterized by typical techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to analyze the phase composition and microstructure. The dielectric characteristics of SmAlO₃ microwave ceramics, using the as-obtained products as original materials, were also studied. Compared with the conventional solid-state reaction method, the synthesis temperature was dramatically reduced to 750 °C. The large-size sheet structure was composed of a number of micro/nano-scale crystallites, which were mostly irregular in shape due to the mutual growth and overlapping shapes of adjacent grains. The SmAlO₃ ceramics with high density and uniform microstructure were obtained after sintering at 1500 °C for 4 h due to the favorable sintering activity of the as-synthesized powders. In addition, desired dielectric properties at microwave frequencies (dielectric constant ε_r = 20.22, quality factor Q·f = 74110 GHz, and a temperature coefficient of resonant frequency τ_f = −74.6 ppm/°C) were achieved.