Crystal Structure–microwave Dielectric Property Relations in R2BaZnO5 (R= Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm) Ceramics

R2BaZnO5 (R = Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm) were synthesized, and the effects of the differences in ionic radii of R ions on the microwave dielectric properties and crystal structure have been investigated by using x-ray powder diffraction. It was shown that the R2BaZnO5compounds have an orthorhombic crystal structure with Pnma (No. 62) and the lattice parameters of the samples increase linearly with the increase in the ionic radii of the R ions. The dielectric constants (εr) of R2BaZnO5sintered at the optimum temperatures vary linearly from 16.1 to 19.3, suggesting that these variations in εr are the result of the differences in the ionic polarizabilities of R ions. Moreover, it is suggested that the variations in the valences of R ions determined by using bond valence sum may exert an influence on quality factor (Qf ), because the values of valences of R ions in R(1)O7 polyhedra and Qf exhibit similar tendencies with changes in the ionic radii of R ions. In the R2O3–BaO–ZnO system, Dy2BaZnO5showed the appropriate microwave dielectric properties: εr = 17.1, Qf = 29669 GHz, and τf = −1.5 ppm/°C.