Techniques for ceramic sintering using microwave energy

The use of microwave energy for ceramic sintering offers exciting new possibilities for materials processing. Based on experience gathered in microwave processing associated with the heating of fusion plasmas, we have developed hardware and methods for uniformly heating ceramic parts of large volume and irregular shape to temperatures in excess of 1600°C, in vacuum or pressurized atmosphere. Microwave processing at 28 GHz yields enhanced densification rates with a corresponding reduction in sintering temperatures.