W0410

Crystal Chemistry and Crystallography of Compounds in the Low-Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) Bi2O3-Ag2O-Nb2O5 System. W. Wong-Ng, Q. Huang, L.P. Cook, M.D. Vaudin, I. Levin and J. Suh, Materials Science & Engineering Laboratory, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD 20899; J.A. Kaduk, BP Amoco Chemicals, Naperville, IL 60566.

Since the early applications of low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) technology in electronic packaging more than two decades ago, the increased use of LTCC in recent years warrants continued research in this important area of ceramics. The Bi2O3-Nb2O5 system is known to be important for LTCC technology, as Ag is the metallization of choice in many LTCC fabrications, including those with embedded (Bi,Nb)-oxides. To understand the reactions between phases of the Bi2O3-Nb2O5 system and Ag, a systematic study of the phase diagram of the Bi2O3-Ag2O-Nb2O5 system has been conducted. In the course of this study, the crystal chemistry and crystallography of various binary oxide phases in the Bi2O3-Nb2O5, Bi2O3-Ag2O, and Ag2O-Nb2O5 systems has been reviewed and reinvestigated. A combination of x-ray, neutron and electron powder diffraction techniques, and differential thermal analysis/thermal gravimetric analysis (DTA/TGA) was used to understand the crystal chemistry and crystallography of compounds in this system. A new ternary phase with chemical formula Bi5AgNb4O18 was also determined (A21ma (a=5.4915(2) Å, b=5.4752(2) Å, c=24.9282(8) Å, V= 749.52 Å3, Z=4) to belong to the family of the Aurivillius phase, (Bi2O2)2+(An-1BnO3n+1)2- , which is characterized by perovskite-like (An-1BnO3n+1)2- slabs regularly interleaved with (Bi2O2)2+ layers. Bi5AgNb4O18 corresponds to n=2, A=Bi, and B= (Ag, Nb). In this talk, a discussion of the crystallography of phases in the Bi2O3-Ag2O-Nb2O5 system and subsystems will be presented.