Research Article

Phase Relations in (Ln = Nd & Sm) Electroceramics

Table 1

EPMA quantitative results for A10-60 sample, for “as-sintered” (a, b) and polished surfaces (c, d).

Area under analysisSurface typeBa [At. %]Sm [At. %]Ti [At. %]

(a) Column-like (BSE lighter)As-sintered 5.72 (9)10.36 (13)20.89 (16)
(b) Needle-like morphology (BSE darker)*As-sintered 8.29 (11)3.55 (51)24.85 (37)
(c) BSE light contrast regionPolished5.68 (14)10.20 (12)21.05 (10)
(d) BSE dark contrast region*Polished12.49 (1.19)5.21 (74)20.66 (18)

Analysis represents a composite of the main phase and the dark contrast region due to restrictive grain size.