Zirconia toughened alumina ESD safe ceramic composition, component, and methods for making same

1. A method of forming an ESD safe ceramic component, comprising:

densifying a ceramic body by hot isostatic pressing (HIPing), the ceramic body comprising (i) a base material of a zirconia toughened alumina, the base material comprising a primary component of Al 2 O 3 and a secondary component of ZrO 2 , wherein the ZrO 2 comprises tetragonal ZrO 2 , and (ii) a resistivity modifier to reduce an electrical resistivity of the base material, wherein the resistivity modifier comprises TiO 2 , MnO 2 , Fe 2 O 3 , CoO, NiO, Cr 2 O 3 , SnO 2 , LaMnO 3 , BaO 6Fe 2 O 3 , LaCrO 3 , or SrCrO 3 , wherein HIPing is carried out at a temperature not greater than 1350° C. and the base material contains Al 2 O 3 and ZrO 2 in an Al 2 O 3 :ZrO 2 volume ratio not less than 55:45, wherein the ceramic body has a volume resistivity within a range of about 10 5 to 10 11 ohm-cm.

2. A method of forming an ESD safe ceramic component, comprising:

mixing together a base material and a resistivity modifier, the base material comprising Al 2 O 3 and ZrO 2 , wherein the ZrO 2 comprises partially stabilized tetragonal ZrO 2 and contains a stabilizer such that the ZrO 2 is pre-alloyed, and wherein the base material contains Al 2 O 3 and ZrO 2 in an Al 2 O 3 :ZrO 2 volume ratio not less than 55:45;

forming a ceramic body comprising the mixture of the base material and the resistivity modifier, wherein the resistivity modifier comprises TiO 2 , MnO 2 , Fe 2 O 3 , CoO, NiO, Cr 2 O 3 , SnO 2 , LaMnO 3 , BaO 6Fe 2 O 3 , LaCrO 3 , or SrCrO 3 , the ZrO 2 containing the stabilizer prior to forming the ceramic body; and

sintering the ceramic body, wherein the ceramic body has a volume resistivity within a range of about 10 5 to 10 11 ohm-cm.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising annealing the ceramic body to have said volume resistivity.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein annealing is carried out in an oxygen containing environment or in an inert gas environment.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein annealing is carried out at a temperature within a range of about 600° C to about 1200° C.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the HIPing is carried out in a HIPing environment, the ceramic component being provided in a localized environment containing a processing gas species having a partial pressure greater than the processing gas species in the HIPing environment.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the HIPing environment contains a noble gas, and the localized environment comprises oxygen, wherein the localized environment is oxygen-rich relative to the HIPing environment.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein component is provided in a crucible containing processing gas source, the crucible defining a volume that is the localized environment.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the crucible is configured to attenuate gas flow therethrough.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the crucible has a single opening during HIPing.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the processing gas source comprises a powder.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the component is embedded in the powder.

13. The method of claim 6 , wherein the ceramic component is comprised of at least one additional material selected from the group consisting of ferrites, varistors, CeO 2 , TiO 2 , Ce-TZP, PZT (PbO—ZrO2-TiO3), PMN (PbO—MnO—NbO3), PLZT, BaTiO 3 , SrTiO 3 .

14. The method of claim 6 , wherein the component is provided in a crucible during HIPing, the crucible containing processing gas source.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the processing gas source comprises a material that is more easily reduced than the resistivity modifier.

16. The method of claim 6 , wherein the processing gas species has a partial pressure that is not less than about 0.1 atm in the localized environment.

17. The method of claim 6 , wherein the processing gas species has a partial pressure that is not less than about 0.5 atm in the localized environment.

18. The method of claim 6 , wherein the processing gas species is oxygen, the localized environment having a greater than an equilibrium oxygen partial pressure of the HIPing environment.

19. The method of claim 6 , wherein the ceramic component is a rod.

20. The method of claim 6 , wherein the rod has an aspect ratio greater than about 5:1.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Al 2 O 3 :ZrO 2 volume ratio is not less than 60:40.

22. The method of claim 2 , wherein the Al 2 O 3 :ZrO 2 volume ratio is not less than 60:40.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resistivity modifier includes TiO 2 , MnO 2 , or Fe 2 O 3 .

24. The method of claim 2 , wherein the resistivity modifier includes TiO 2 , MnO 2 , or Fe 2 O 3 .

25. The method of claim 2 , wherein sintering is carried out at a temperature not greater than 1350° C.