Densification and Microstructure of Ultrafine-sized AlN Powder Prepared by a High Energy Ball Milling Process

In this study, a high energy ball milling process was employed in order to improve the densification of direct nitrided AlN powder. The densification behavior and the sintered microstructure of the milled AlN powder were investigated. Mixture of AlN powder doped with 5 wt.% $Y_2O_3$ as a sintering additive was pulverized and dispersed up to 50 min in a bead mill with very small $ZrO_2$ beads. Ultrafine AlN powder with a particle size of 600 nm and a specific surface area of 9.54 $m^2/g$ was prepared after milling for 50 min. The milled powders were pressureless-sintered at $1700^{\circ}C-1800^{\circ}C$ for 4 h under $N_2$ atmosphere. This powder showed excellent sinterability leading to full densification after sintering at $1700^{\circ}C$ for 4 h. However, the sintered microstructure revealed that the fraction of yitttium aluminate increased with milling time and sintering temperature and the newly-secondary phase of ZrN was observed due to the reaction of AlN with the $ZrO_2$ impurity.

고에너지 볼밀링 방법에 의해 얻어진 초미립 AlN 분말의 치밀화 및 미세구조