Growth of BaTiO ₃ Seed Grains by the Twin‐Plane Reentrant Edge Mechanism

Abstract

Two different types of BaTiO 3 seed particles, normal and twinned seeds of ∼30 μm on the average, were prepared from crushed sintered specimens. Normal seeds were obtained from the usual BaTiO 3 sintered compacts, while twinned seeds containing a double twin were obtained from BaTiO 3 compacts sintered with 2 mol% of SiO 2 . The BaTiO 3 powder compacts were again prepared with 5 wt% of seed grains and sintered under various conditions. The microstructural evolution was quite different in the two cases: the growth of normal seed grains was ultimately limited but that of the twinned seeds continued extensively. The observed difference is discussed in terms of the growth mechanism and the atomic structure of interfaces.