A ceramic structure includes a base body, and a thermoelectric device having a part in directly contact with the base body. The base body is a ceramic consisting of aluminum oxide. The thermoelectric device comprises a conductor part that is a sintered body having an alloy of tungsten and rhenium, as a main component, and including nickel oxide, aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide.

The invention provides a ceramic device enabling more complex, elaborate patterns for resistance heating elements or electrodes. A ceramic device includes a ceramic substrate consisting of a ceramic sintered body and including at least a base layer, an intermediate layer laminated over the base layer, and an overlayer laminated over the intermediate layer; and an electrifiable resistance heating element or electrode having a predetermined pattern extending in a planar shape and being embedded in the ceramic substrate. A horizontal surface is defined in the upper surface of the intermediate layer, along which the resistance heating element or electrode is arranged, and the overlayer is laminated onto the upper surface of the intermediate layer to cover the resistance heating element or electrode.

Disclosed are a multi-layer composite ceramic plate and a manufacturing method thereof. The composite ceramic plate includes at least one basic sandwich structure. The manufacturing method includes: preparing a sheet-like green body with ceramic powders; pre-sintering the green body at a pre-sintering temperature lower than the sintering temperature to obtain a pre-sintered ceramic member with certain strength; forming a metal electrode layer on an upper surface of the pre-sintered ceramic member; placing the pre-sintered ceramic member in a mold, with the upper surface coated with the metal electrode layer facing upwards; providing a ceramic precursor layer on the upper surface of the pre-sintered ceramic member; carrying out hot-pressing sintering in the axial direction of the pre-sintered ceramic member at the sintering temperature to form an integral structure, wherein by the hot-pressing sintering, a second ceramic layer is formed by the pre-sintered ceramic member, a first ceramic layer is formed by the ceramic precursor layer, and the metal electrode layer is located between the first ceramic layer and the second ceramic layer to from a basic sandwich structure together with the first ceramic layer and the second ceramic layer.

A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes: a multilayer structure in which ceramic dielectric layers and internal electrode layers are alternately stacked, wherein: a main component of the ceramic dielectric layer is barium titanate in which a donor element having a larger valence than Ti is solid-solved and an acceptor element having a smaller valence than Ti and larger ion radius than Ti and the donor element is solid-solved; a solid-solution amount of the donor element is 0.05 mol or more and 0.3 mol or less on a presumption that an amount of the barium titanate is 100 mol and the donor element is converted into an oxide; and a solid solution amount of the accepter element is 0.02 mol or more and 0.2 mol or less on a presumption that the amount of the barium titanate is 100 mol and the acceptor element is converted into an oxide.

A piezoelectric material including a perovskite-type metal oxide represented by the following general formula (1); Bi; and Mn, wherein the content of Bi is 0.1-0.5 mol % with respect to 1 mol of the metal oxide, the content of Mn is 0.3-1.5 mol % with respect to 1 mol of the metal oxide, and the piezoelectric material satisfies (L.sub.4−L.sub.5)/L.sub.5≧0.05 and (L.sub.8−L.sub.9)/L.sub.9≧0.05 when the lengths of twelve Bi—O bonds with Bi that is located at a 12-fold site with respect to O in a perovskite-type unit cell as a starting point are taken to be L.sub.1 to L.sub.12 in length order:

(Ba.sub.1-xM1.sub.x)(Ti.sub.1-yM2.sub.y)O.sub.3  (1)

wherein 0≦x≦0.2, 0≦y≦0.1, and M1 and M2 are mutually different metal elements which have a total valence of +6 and are selected from other elements than Ba, Ti, Bi and Mn.

A dielectric composition is provided. The dielectric composition includes: a main component made of: a first complex oxide expressed by a chemical formula {K(Ba.sub.1-xSr.sub.x).sub.2Nb.sub.5O.sub.15}; and a second complex oxide expressed by a chemical formula that differs the chemical formula of the first complex oxide. The second complex oxide is a complex oxide expressed by one of chemical formulae: {(Ca.sub.1-ySr.sub.y)(Zr.sub.1-zTi.sub.z)O.sub.3}; {Ba(Ti.sub.1-uZr.sub.u)O.sub.3}; {(Ca.sub.1-vSr.sub.v)TiSiO.sub.5}; and {(Ba.sub.1-wRe.sub.2w/3)Nb.sub.2O.sub.6}, x satisfies 0.35≦x≦0.75, and a satisfies 0.25≦a≦0.75 when a molar ratio between the first and second complex oxides is defined by a:b in an order and a+b=1.00.

A method of forming one or more high temperature co-fired ceramic articles, comprising the steps of:— a) forming a plurality of green compacts, by a process comprising dry pressing a powder comprising ceramic and organic binder to form a green compact; b) disposing a conductor or conductor precursor to at least one surface of at least one of the plurality of green compacts to form at least one patterned green compact; c) assembling the at least one patterned green compact with one or more of the plurality of green compacts or patterned green compacts or both to form a laminated assembly; d) isostatically pressing the laminated assembly to form a pressed laminated assembly; e) firing the pressed laminated assembly at a temperature sufficient to sinter the ceramic layers together.

A wiring board includes an insulating substrate and a wiring conductor. The insulating substrate includes a first layer having an upper surface and a lower surface and having a first content of aluminum oxide and containing mullite and a second layer stacked on the upper surface and/or the lower surface of the first layer and having a second content of aluminum oxide greater than the first content. The wiring conductor is located inside the first layer and contains a manganese compound and/or a molybdenum compound. A manganese silicate phase and/or a magnesium silicate phase in an interface area between the insulating substrate and the wiring conductor.

There is provided a dielectric ceramic composition including a base powder, wherein the base powder includes: a first major component represented by BaTiO.sub.3, a second major component represented by (Na, K)NbO.sub.3, and a third major component represented by (Bi, Na)TiO.sub.3. The base powder is represented by xBaTiO.sub.3-y(Na, K)NbO.sub.3-z(Bi, Na)TiO.sub.3, where x+y+z=1, and x, y, and z are represented by mol, and x, y and z satisfy 0.5≦x≦0.97, 0.01≦y≦0.48, and 0.02≦z≦0.2, respectively. In certain embodiments, the base powder is be represented by xBaTiO.sub.3-y(Na.sub.0.5K.sub.0.5)NbO.sub.3-z(Bi.sub.0.5Na.sub.0.5)TiO.sub.3.

A hybrid component is provided including a plurality of laminates stacked on one another to define a stacked laminate structure. The laminates include a ceramic matrix composite material having certain features, such as a matrix porosity characteristic and a hierarchical fiber architecture, and at least one opening defined therein. A metal support structure may be arranged through each opening so as to extend through the stacked laminate structure.