Effect of temperature and time on properties of Spark Plasma Sintered NiCuZn: Co ferrite

Spark Plasma Sintering is a powerfal method to produce fine grain dense ferrite at low temperature. However, the process, usually conducted in neutral atmosphere in a carbon die, yields carbon surface deposition and reduction of Fe3+ into Fe2+. It's shown that subsequent annealing in air can remove carbon and, under some conditions, produce complete oxidation of Fe2+ ions. Regular values of the resistivity and permittivity (resp. 1 M­m, 13 "0) are recovered for most samples annealed not higher than 750±C. Relatively high value of the permeability (up to 240) and high merit factor (μs × fr > 5 GHz) have been achieved.