Processing and Properties of Ceramic Yttrium Manganite Sintered by Different Methods

Intergranular and intragranular cracks that usually form during sintering of yttrium manganite (YMnO3) ceramic samples hinder the densification process of this ceramic and deteriorate its magnetic and ferroelectric properties. To overcome this problem, mechanochemically synthesized YMnO3 powder was sintered using two different processes: Conventional Sintering (CS) and Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS). All samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and FESEM and their magnetic and ferroelectric properties were investigated. Apart from their phase composition, conventionally sintered ceramic samples showed cracks throughout their whole volume, reaching a maximum relative density of 85 %. However, it was found that PECS process could significantly reduce the presence of cracks within samples whose relative density reached 99.8 %.