Dielectric glass ceramics for antenna applications

Glass-ceramics are fabricated by the controlled devitrification of glass. There are many applications which make use of glass ceramics for their thermal and mechanical properties but recently there has been significant interest glass-ceramic for a range of applications varying from MW dielectric substrates for antennas to high breakdown strength dielectrics for capacitors in power electronics. This project will explore new formulations of glass ceramics for a range of applications with the aim to explore their complex crystallisation behaviour and how it influences properties over a wide range of frequencies. The student will structurally and microstructurally characterise the materials using a combination of X-ray diffraction and scanning and transmission electron microscopy and use the data generated to interpret dielectric behaviour as a function of composition and temperature.