Dielectric properties of SiO2-Al2O3-Na2O-CaO-K2O glass in the range from 1 KHz to 60 GHz
TUAN T. 1, WANG S. 2, YU B. 1
1 Institute of Mineral Resources Engineering, College of Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan; 2 Department of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, College of Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
In this study, a SiO2-Na2O-K2O-CaO-Al2O3 glass system was prepared via the sol-gel method, and its densification, microstructure, and dielectric properties of different ratios were investigated. The main focus of the present work is to investigate the potential usage of SiO2-Na2O-K2O-CaO-Al2O3 glass systems in fifth-generation communications (5G). From the differential thermal analysis - thermogravimetric analysis (DTA-TG) results, 65SiO2-15.75Na2O-5.75K2O-5.75CaO-7.75Al2O3 glass showed four endothermic peaks (corresponding to thermal decomposition of Ca(NO3)2?4H2O, Al(NO3)3?9H2O, NaNO3, and KNO3) and three exothermic peaks (corresponding to crystallization of SiO2, CaAl2Si2O5, and Na2CaSiO4) in the temperature range from 30°C to 1000°C. The thermogravimetric loss of the as-prepared sample was found to be 51.8 %, mainly originating from the loss of nitrate, water, and ethanol molecules. Further, the exothermic and endothermic peaks were shifted to higher temperatures with increasing content of SiO2, and the peaks shifted toward lower temperatures with decreasing content of SiO2. Dilatometer (DIL) results showed that 65SiO2-15.75Na2O-5.75K2O-5.75CaO-7.75Al2O3 glass has a Ts (soften point) of 471.3°C, and when the content of SiO2 reached to 70 wt%, the Ts was increased to 497.1°C. The X-Ray diffraction (XRD) pattern confirms that glass systems are free from the impurity crystalline phases. The glass system has 65 wt% of SiO2 content can be densified after 30 min. of sintering time at 650°C (ρ = 2.45 g/cm3), and while the glass system has 70 wt% of SiO2, densified after 60 min. of sintering at 650°C (ρ = 2.46 g/cm3). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed that the glass systems densified with the occurrence of small pores in the 65SiO2-15.75Na2O-5.75K2O-5.75CaO-7.75Al2O3 and 70SiO2-14.5Na2O-4.5K2O-4.5CaO-6.5Al2O3 glasses. The microwave dielectric properties of 65SiO2-15.75Na2O-5.75K2O-5.75CaO-7.75Al2O3 glass samples were measured by using a network analyzer in TE mode, which shows excellent microwave dielectric properties at 11.86 GHz (εr = 4.3, Q x f = 4570 GHz) and by using an open resonator in the range of 20 GHz to 60 GHz, dielectric properties of 65SiO2-15.75Na2O-5.75K2O-5.75CaO-7.75Al2O3 glass with Na2CaSi3O8 phase were found to be εr = 6.4 and tanδ = 1.5 × 10-2 at the frequency of 59.4 GHz.
Keywords: glasses, sol-gel method, millimeter-wave, microwave dielectric properties, fifth-generation communication