Abstract
Diopside ceramics were fabricated by firing glass compacts with the composition of MgO-CaO-2SiO2 at various temperatures for 1 hour and the applicability of these ceramics to low loss dielectrics was investigated. A sharp shrinkage of diopside glass compacts was observed in a few minutes at 800°C by the viscous flow mechanism and then the transformation into diopside ceramics by precipitation of diopside crystals proceeded at 858°C. Diopside ceramics were obtained by firing in the temperature range from 900° to 1200°C. The bending strength of sintered bodies obtained at 900°C was about 200MPa and decreased with increasing firing temperature. The linear thermal expansion coefficient of diopside ceramics was 10×10-6°C-1, and the dielectric constant and loss tangent were 7.1 and 2×10-4, respectively.
