Material synthesis, powder and sol-gel technologies

The research field covers the development and synthesis of dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials with homogeneous and heterogeneous microstructures for capacitors, actuators and sensors following the mixed oxide method. Latest projects include the synthesis of environmentally relevant lead-oxide-free piezoceramic materials. Here, one focus is on the manufacturing of perovskite seeds to structure functional ceramic multilayers using the templated-grain-growth method.

Furthermore, we deal with the realization of functional ceramic thin films on various substrates by chemical solution deposition (CSD). This includes PZT thin films with a thickness of a few nanometers to > 50 µm by combining CSD and casting methods, the deposition of dielectric materials for storage applications for semi-conductor industry in the range of < 100 nm, and the manufacturing of new inorganic materials used as etch stop layers in silicon structuring.

 

Services offered

 

• Sensor, actor and capacitor materials (powder and sol-gel technologies as well as ion etching)

 

Technical equipment

 

• Powder synthesis
  
• Powder preparation: planetary ball mills, attritors
  
• Powder compaction: isostatic, CIP, HIP
  
• Sintering: laboratory furnaces, vacuum oxygen furnaces, SPS
  
• Thin-film deposition
  
• Clean room cabin, ISO class 3
  
• PVD system for the deposition of Ti/Pt/Cr/Ni/Au/Ta
  
• Centrifuge for CSD and other coatings
  
• Hot plate, RTA system for drying, tempering and structuring
  
• Mask aligner for structuring of layers and deposition of top electrode
  
• Comprehensive dielectric characterization