THE MICROWAVE EFFECT ON THE SINTERING OF DIELECTRIC, LOW-PERMITTIVITYCERAMICS

''The microwave effect'' is a decrease in the sintering temperature of ceramics, when microwave heating is used instead of conventional heat ing. The uncertainty of temperature in a microwave oven makes the micr owave effect difficult to measure accurately, and the existence of the effect is questionable. There is no definitive explanation for the ph enomenon, which may be due to an increase in diffusion processes, rela ted to interfacial mechanisms. The present paper only deals with the c eramics that are dielectric and with a low permittivity.