High temperature dielectric ceramics: a review of temperature-stable high-permittivity perovskites

Recent developments are reviewed in the search for dielectric ceramics which can operate at temperatures > 200 A degrees C, well above the limit of existing high volumetric efficiency capacitor materials. Compositional systems based on lead-free relaxor dielectrics with mixed cation site occupancy on the perovskite lattice are summarised, and properties compared. As a consequence of increased dielectric peak broadening and shifts to peak temperatures, properties can be engineered such that a plateau in relative permittivity-temperature response (epsilon(r)-T) is obtained, giving a +/- 15 %, or better, consistency in epsilon(r) over a wide temperature range. Materials with extended upper temperature limits of 300, 400 and indeed 500 A degrees C are grouped in this article according to the parent component of the solid solution, for example BaTiO3 and Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3. Challenges are highlighted in achieving a lower working temperature of -55 A degrees C, whilst also extending the upper temperature limit of stable epsilon(r) to a parts per thousand yen300 A degrees C, and achieving high-permittivity and low values of dielectric loss tangent, tan delta. Summary tables and diagrams are used to help compare values of epsilon(r), tan delta, and temperature ranges of stability for different materials.