Dielectric Properties of Compacts Sintered after High-Pressure Forming of Lithium Fluoride

High-pressure forming at 300 MPa and room temperature was applied before the sintering of a lithium fluoride (LiF) powder. The as-fired samples were tested as dielectrics and showed very interesting characteristics. The best sample, sintered at 750 °C for 8 h, had a relative permittivity of 12.1 and a loss tangent of 0.0006, both of them frequency-independent and temperature-independent up to at least 150 °C, and moreover, the volume DC resistivity was 27.4 × 1012 Ωm at room temperature. These parameters are comparable with oxide ceramics, processed at temperatures over 1300 °C, as for example, aluminum dioxide (Al2O3) or Y3Al5O12 (YAG). LiF material is advantageous because of its very low sintering temperature, which is only about one-half of typical oxide ceramic dielectrics.