Decreasing the sintering temperature of BaTiO3 without deteriorating the dielectric properties is technologically important in the fabrication of multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). Consequently, ceramic formulations based on the (1 - x)BaTiO3-xLi(3)PO(4) (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.1) were prepared. The use of Li3PO4 as a sintering aid lowered the optimum sintering temperature from 1350 to 1150 A degrees C but X-ray diffraction revealed the formation of BaLiPO4 for x = 0.01-0.05 and an additional secondary LiPO3 phase at x = 0.1. The room temperature dielectric constant decreased from 4288 to 3600 and the remnant polarization and coercive field also decreased from 6.70 to 3 A mu C/cm(2) and 3.32 to 2.5 kV/cm, respectively, as x increased from 0 to 0.05 but more importantly the phase transition temperature remained essentially constant, an important factor in the fabrication of temperature stable devices. Moreover, the bulk and grain boundary conductivity decreased as x increased to 0.05, possibly related to a decrease in the grain size from 50 to 1 mu m. These results suggest that Li3PO4 may have technological benefits in the fabrication of MLCCs.