A piezoelectric material contains: a first component which is a rhombohedral crystal in a single composition, has a Curie temperature Tc1, and is a lead-free-system composite oxide having a perovskite-type structure; a second component which is a crystal other than the rhombohedral crystal in a single composition, has a Curie temperature Tc2<Tc1, and is a lead-free-system composite oxide having a perovskite-type structure; and a third component which is a crystal other than the rhombohedral crystal in a single composition similar to the second component, has a Curie temperature Tc3Tc1, and is a lead-free-system composite oxide that has a perovskite-type structure and is different from the second component. When a molar ratio of the third component to the sum of the second component and the third component is and Tc3+(1)Tc2 is Tc4, |Tc4Tc2|50 C.

A method of forming a water resistant boundary on a fissile material for use in a water cooled nuclear reactor is described. The method comprises mixing a powdered fissile material selected from the group consisting of UN and U.sub.3Si.sub.2 with an additive selected from oxidation resistant materials having a melting or softening point lower than the sintering temperature of the fissile material, pressing the mixed fissile and additive materials into a pellet, sintering the pellet to a temperature greater than the melting point of the additive. Alternatively, if the melting point of the oxidation resistant particles is greater than the sintering temperature of UN or U.sub.3Si.sub.2, then the oxidation resistant particles can have a particle size distribution less than that of the UN or U.sub.3Si.sub.2.

Methods of fabricating a shaped material includes laser irradiating a first layer of a powder to convert the powder to a first material layer; disposing a second layer of the powder on the first material layer; laser irradiating the second layer of the powder to convert the powder to a second material layer; and fusing the first material layer and the second material layer, forming a shaped material having semiconducting or thermoelectric properties. A system to fabricate a shaped material includes an enclosure; a powder containment vessel within the enclosure and having a base, a powder storage section and a shaped material formation section adjacent to the storage section; a transfer mechanism for transferring a powder from the storage section to the formation section; and a laser to irradiate the powder when the powder is located within the formation section.

The present disclosure provides a multilayer electronic component which may improve a break down voltage (BDV) characteristic by adjusting a ratio of a content of an element included in a first or second region of a dielectric layer to reduce a difference in dielectric grain size dispersion and grain density in the first or second region.

A batch of refractory objects may include a plurality of bodies including a ceramic material. The batch may include an average porosity of at least 25% to not greater than 75% for the volume of the batch. The batch may have at least 50 refractory objects, a minimum volume of at least 0.36 cubic meters, and an average batch Porosity Index of not greater than 7.

A method for manufacturing a hole jewel, including forming a precursor from a mixture of at least one powder material with a binder; pressing the precursor, with upper lower dies, to form a green body of the future hole jewel including a blind cavity having a height between a height of the green body and a height of the future hole jewel, the cavity being provided with upper and lower portions respectively including blanks of a through hole and of a functional element of the future hole jewel; sintering the green body to form a body of the future hole jewel; machining the body, including a first sub-step of shaping a top of the body, during which a height of the upper portion is configured in readiness for an opening in the through hole blank for connecting the functional element to the upper surface, and a second sub-step of shaping a base of the body to form a lower surface of the hole jewel for connecting the functional element to to the lower surface.

A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes: a ceramic body in which dielectric layers and first and second internal electrodes are alternately stacked; and first and second external electrodes formed on an outer surface of the ceramic body and electrically connected to the first and second internal electrodes, respectively. In a microstructure of the dielectric layer, dielectric grains are divided by a dielectric grain size into sections each having an interval of 50 nm, respectively, a fraction of the dielectric grains in each of the sections within a range of 50 nm to 450 nm is within a range of 0.025 to 0.20, and a thickness of the dielectric layer is 0.8 m or less.

A ceramic wafer includes an upper surface and a lower surface, and the ceramic wafer includes at least one curved surface. A manufacturing method of the ceramic wafer includes the steps of: performing a high-temperature sintering process on a ceramic green body to produce a ceramic material; and performing a processing process on the ceramic material to form the ceramic wafer, wherein the processing process is used to change the shape of the ceramic material and thereby form the ceramic wafer. The ceramic wafer and the manufacturing method thereof are advantageous in that by forming a warped or bowed ceramic wafer, it is made possible for the surface tension or surface internal stress resulting from forming a thick integrated circuit film on the ceramic wafer to pull the ceramic wafer into a relatively flat configuration suitable for subsequent manufacturing processes that require wafer flatness.

Certain examples of the present invention relate to a method for manufacturing a ceramic object derived from a 3D printed ceramic structure. The method comprises: carbonising the 3D printed ceramic structure. Such carbonising of the 3D printed ceramic structure may comprise introducing a network of carbon bonding into the 3D printed ceramic structure via: impregnating and/or coating the 3D printed ceramic structure with a carbon precursor, or printing the 3D printed ceramic structure using a ceramic printing medium comprising a carbon precursor. The resultant 3D printed ceramic structure which comprises a carbon precursor is pyrolysed so as to form a network of carbon bonding within/surrounding the 3D printed ceramic structure.

An inorganic membrane filtration article and methods for making the same. The membrane filtration article includes a sintered flow-through ceramic honeycomb with a plurality of partition walls defining a plurality of open channels from an inlet end of the honeycomb to an outlet end of the honeycomb. The honeycomb is formed from a cordierite composition with low-sodium and/or low-potassium content for enhanced filtration performance.