Microwave processing of ceramics often involves a refractory casket which serves both as a thermal insulator and a microwave suspector. Since most ceramics do not couple well with microwave fields at temperatures below about 800 deg C to 1000 deg C, such "hybrid heating" allows the ceramic to first be heated by radiant heating from the suspector material. While local melting or hot spots in the refractory casket can place limits on ceramic processing, this paper describes techniques to minimize such difficulties.
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