A lithium-lanthanum-titanium oxide sintered material has a lithium ion conductivity 3.010.sup.4 Scm.sup.1 or more at a measuring temperature of 27 C., the material is described by one of general formulas (1a)La.sub.xLi.sub.2-3xTiO.sub.3-aSrTiO.sub.3, (1a)La.sub.xLi.sub.2-3xTiO.sub.3-aLa.sub.0.5K.sub.0.5TiO.sub.3, La.sub.xLi.sub.2-3xTi.sub.1-aM.sub.aO.sub.3-a, Sr.sub.x-1.5aLa.sub.aLi.sub.1.5-2xTi.sub.0.5Ta.sub.0.5O.sub.3 (0.55x0.59, 0a0.2, M=at least one of Fe or Ga), amount of Al contained is 0.35 mass % or less as Al.sub.2O.sub.3, amount of Si contained is 0.1 mass % or less as SiO.sub.2, and average particle diameter is 18 m or more.

The present invention provides a product and manufacturing method for electro-optic ceramic material having the composition (A(1-y)Ay).sub.1-XLnxM.sub.(1-2X/5)O3 wherein 0<x<0.1; 0<y<1; A and A are independently, alkali metals; Ln is a lanthanide metal; and M is a transition metal. The present invention provides a product and manufacturing method for an electro-optic device that is operable at room temperature and the properties of which are tunable by an applied external electric field.

The invention relates to a method for the production of a shaped body comprising at least the method steps of producing a blank having an open porosity by pressing and treating pourable material in a first heat treatment step comprising or consisting of a metal oxide, infiltrating the blank with an infiltration fluid containing a precursor of the metal oxide, precipitating hydroxide of the metal from the infiltration fluid by treating the blank with a basic solution, forming the metal oxide from the hydroxide by treating the blank in a second heat treatment step, wherein the blank is processed before or after the second heat treatment step to achieve a shape that corresponds to the shaped body.

A perovskite ceramic composition that contains Sn, Ba, and Ti, and where the Sn content is within a range of about 0.001 parts by molSnabout 0.999 parts by mole with respect to 100 parts by mole of the Ti. The perovskite ceramic composition can be used in a composition that further includes a rare earth element R, Mn, and Si, and optionally Mg, where proportions of the R, the Mn, the Si, and the optional Mg, satisfy R: 0<Rabout 10 parts by mole, Mn: 0<Mnabout 5 parts by mole, Si: 0<Siabout 5 parts by mole Mg: 0<Mgabout 5 parts by mole with respect to 100 parts by mole of Ti.

A multilayer ceramic capacitor that includes a laminated body having a plurality of ceramic layers including crystal grains that have a perovskite structure, and a plurality of internal electrode layers; and external electrodes on first and second end surfaces of the laminated body and electrically connected to respective sets of the plurality of internal electrodes. In the ceramic layers, when the content of Ti is 100 parts by mol, the ceramic layers contain Ca at 0.10 to 15.00 parts by mol; Mg at 0.0010 to 0.0097 parts by mol; R at 0.50 to 4.00 parts by mol; M at 0.10 to 2.00 parts by mol; and Si at 0.50 to 2.00 parts by mol, and core parts of the crystal grains contain Ca.

The present invention provides a piezoelectric material which has excellent insulating and piezoelectric properties and which contains no lead and potassium and also provides a piezoelectric element and a multilayered piezoelectric element each using the above piezoelectric material. The piezoelectric material is a perovskite-type metal oxide represented by the following general formula (1).
(1x){(Na.sub.yBa.sub.1-z)(Nb.sub.7Ti.sub.1-z)O.sub.3}-xBiFeO.sub.3(1)
In the formula, 0<x0.015, 0.80y0.95, 0.85z0.95 are satisfied.

The present invention relates to a varistor material for a surge arrester with target switching field strength ranging from 250 to 400 V/mm comprising ZnO forming a ZnO phase and Bi expressed as Bi.sub.2O.sub.3 forming an intergranular bismuth oxide phase, said varistor material further comprising a spinel phase, characterized in that the amount of a pyrochlore phase comprised in the varistor material is such, that the ratio of the pyrochlore phase to the spinel phase is less than 0.15:1.

Thermoelectric materials based on tetrahedrite structures for thermoelectric devices and methods for producing thermoelectric materials and devices are disclosed.

The present disclosure relates to a precursor solution for the preparation of a ceramic of the BZT-BXT type, where X is selected from Ca, Sn, Mn, and Nb, and a is a molar fraction selected in the range between 0.10 and 0.90, said solution comprising: 1) at least one barium precursor compound; 2) a precursor compound selected from the group consisting of at least one calcium compound, at least one tin compound, at least one manganese compound, and at least one niobium compound; 3) at least one anhydrous precursor compound of zirconium; 4) at least one anhydrous precursor compound of titanium; 5) a solvent selected from the group consisting of a polyol and mixtures of a polyol and a secondary solvent selected from the group consisting of alcohols, carboxylic acids, esters, ketones, ethers, and mixtures thereof; and 6) a chelating agent, as well as method of using the same.

A sputtering target configured from a magnesium oxide sintered body, wherein a ratio of crystal grains of the magnesium oxide sintered body in which a number of pinholes in a single crystal grain is 20 or more is 50% or less. The present invention is a sputtering target configured from a magnesium oxide sintered body in which the generation of particles during sputtering is less.