• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 1985

Experiments related to nitriding silicon with addition of $Si_3N_4$ have provided information on the effects of such inclusion on the phase relationships of Reaction Bonded Silicon Nitride. In the current work specimens containing 0-25wt% Si3N4 which have 55.5wt% $\alpha$ 4.5wt% $eta$, 40wt% amorphous phase were nitrided for 7-20 hours at 1300-135$0^{\circ}C$ The evaluation of nitridation was per-formed by means of $\alpha$-and $\beta$-phase contents determination in nitrided specimens, In order to observe nitrided region between silicon and silicon nitride scanning electron microscopy was used to study reacted region between silicon and silicon nitride particle. For this purpose semiconductor-grade silicon wafer single crystal was used as a silicon source. The incorporation of small amount of $Si_3N_4$ powder is contributed to enhancing the rate of formation of $\alpha$-phase.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.561-569
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• 1988

Mixtures of very small amounts of additive, carbon and silica(about 0.46${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$) which synthesized by the hydrolysis of ethyl silicate, the molar ratio of SiO2/C was fixed to 1/10, was nitrided at 145$0^{\circ}C$. It was considered that the optimum amount of additive to promote the nitridation reaction was below 2.0wt%. By the addition of additive, the nitridation reaction was promoted and formation of $\beta$-Si3N4 was promoted at 145$0^{\circ}C$ for 1hour, but, the nitridation reaction was decreased and the ratio of $\alpha$/$\beta$ of Si3N4, was increased at 145$0^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours. The crystal phase was $\alpha$ phase and the nitridation reaction was promoted and the particle size of silicon nitride was become smaller by the addition of $\alpha$-Si3N4, but silicon nitride of whisker-like form was produced by the addition of transition elements. There was a difference in the lattice constants of $\alpha$-Si3N4, but no difference in its of $\beta$-Si3N4 according to kinds of added substance and reaction time.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.799-804
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• 1999

Composites of SiC-Si3N4 consisted of uniformly distributed elongated $\beta$-Si3N4 grains and equiaxed $\beta$-SiC grains were fabricated with $\beta$-SiC,. $\alpha$-Si3N4 Al2O3 and Y2O3 powders. By hot-pressing and subsequent annelaing elongated $\beta$-Si3N4 grains were grown via$\alpha$longrightarrow$\beta$ phase transformation and equiaxed $\beta$-Si3N4 composites increased with increasing the Si3N4 content owing to the reduced defect size and enhanced crack deflection by elongated $\beta$-Si3N4 grains and the grain boundary strengthening by nitrogen incorporation. Typical flexural strength and fracture toughness of SiC-40 wt% Si3N4 composites were 783 MPa and 4.2 MPa.m1/2 respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.53-53
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• 2009

Charge trap flash memory devices with modified tunneling barriers were fabricated using the tunneling barrier engineering technique. Variable oxide thickness (VARIOT) barrier and CRESTED barrier consisting of thin $SiO_2$ and $Si_3N_4$ dielectric layers were used as engineered tunneling barriers. The VARIOT type tunneling barrier composed of oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layers revealed reliable electrical characteristics; long retention time and superior endurance. On the other hand, the CRESTED tunneling barrier composed of nitride-oxide-nitride (NON) layers showed degraded retention and endurance characteristics. It is found that the degradation of NON barrier is associated with the increase of interface state density at tunneling barrier/silicon channel by programming and erasing (P/E) stress.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.133-138
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• 1998

The effect of $\beta$-$Si_3N_4$ seeding on microstructural development of silicon nitride based materials has been investigated. In particular, to observe more distinctly the abnormal grain growth in pressureless sintering, fine $\alpha$-$Si_3N_4$(mean particle size: 0.26 ${\mu}m$) powder classified by sedimentation method was used. It was possible to prepare silicon nitride with abnormally grown grains under low nitrogen pressure of 1 atm thanks to the heterogeneous nucleation on $Si_3N_4$ seed particles. The size and morphology of silicon nitride grains were strongly influenced by the presence of $\beta$-$Si_3N_4$ seed and overall chemical composition. For specimens with initially low $\beta$-content, the large grains grew without a significant impingement by other large grains. On the contrary, for specimens with initially high $\beta$-content, steric hindrance was effective. The resulting microstructure was less inhomogeneous and characterized by unimodal grain size distribution.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.280-287
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• 2000

Adsorption behavior and amount of phenolic resin followed silica (SiO2) formation onto silicon nitride(Si3N4) surface were investigated using electrokinetic sonic amplitude (ESA) technique and with UV spectrometer, to fabricate Si3N4/SiC nano-composite based on reaction between SiO2 formed and phenolic resin absorbed onto Si3N4 particle. The amount of SiO2 formed and carbon from phenolic resin absorbed onto Si3N4 surface were calculated quantitatively to adjust the reaction between SiO2 and phenolic resin, resulting in no residual SiO2 and carbon. As a result, pre-heated tempeature for optimized reaction was below 25$0^{\circ}C$, in which there was no residual SiO2 and carbon.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.67-74
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• 1986

To investigate the effects of unreacted silicon on the $\alpha$/$\beta$transfornation variation of morphology and mechanical strength of Sintered Reaction Bonded Silicon Nitride the mixtures of $\alpha$-$Si_3N_4$ and Si powder and Reaction Bonded Silicon Nitride were heat treated. The heat-treatments were performed in Ar atmosphere in order to inhibit the nitridation of silicon. In the mixtures heat-trated at 1$700^{\circ}C$ the amount of $\beta$-TEX>$Si_3N_4$transformed from $\alpha$-TEX>$Si_3N_4$was sigmoidally increased and the equiaxed $\alpha$-TEX>$Si_3N_4$grains elongated with the amount of silicon and heat treating time. And large $\beta$-TEX>$Si_3N_4$grains grown into silicon were observed. On the other hand there was no change in the heat-treatment of pure $\alpha$-TEX>$Si_3N_4$In case of the heat-treatment of RBSN the same phenomena due to the silicon appearing from the decomposition of $\alpha$-Smatte and needle were observed. From the three point bending test the strength of the sintered specimens with the and without 5wt% silicon addition had 53Kg/$mm^2$ and 73Kg/$mm^2$ respectively.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.150-155
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• 1999

The rolling fatigue lives (RFL) of five kinds of silicon nitride balls were investigated. Four kinds of Si$_3$N$_4$balls were fabricated using different raw materials, sintering aids and sintering conditions. Commercially available Si$_3$N$_4$ball was also studied for comparison. All the balls were finished up to the dimensional accuracy of Grade 10 defined in KS B 2001 (Steel Balls fer Ball Bearings) with a size of 9.525 mm. RFL tests were then conducted under the initial theoretical maximum contact stress 6.38 GPa and the spindle speed 10,000 rpm. Gear oil was provided by oiled race as lubricant. The results of RFL test indicated the prerequisitic conditions for the long rolling life of Si$_3$N$_4$ball : (1) the high density, (2) microstructures consisted of small uniformly distributed grains, (3) little glassy phase in grainboundary, and (4) little crystalline phase and secondary phase that induces residual thermal stress due to the differences of thermal expansion coefficient with Si$_3$N$_4$phase.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.356-362
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• 1998

Hertzian crack suppression phenomena and relatively high damage tolerance were investigated in hard/soft silicon nitride ($Si_3N_4$) bilayers. Coarse $\alpha}-Si_3N_4$ powder was wsed for the hard coating layer and fine $\alpha}-Si_3N_4$ powder was used for the soft substrate layer. The two layers were designed with a strong interface. Hertzian indentation was used to investigate contact fracture and damage tolerance property. Hertzian crack suppression has occurred with increasing applied load and decreasing coating thickness. The crack suppression contributed strength improvement, especially in the bilayers with thinner coatings. Ultimately, the combination of hard coating with soft but tough underlayer improved the damage tolerance of brittle $Si_3N_4$ ceramics.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.301-307
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• 2012

SiAlON glasses are silicates or alumino-silicates, containing Mg, Ca, Y or rare earth (RE) ions as modifiers, in which nitrogen atoms substitute for oxygen atoms in the glass network. These glasses are found as intergranular films and at triple point junctions in silicon nitride ceramics and these grain boundary phases affect their fracture behaviour. This paper provides an overview of the preparation of M-SiAlON glasses and outlines the effects of composition on properties. As nitrogen substitutes for oxygen in SiAlON glasses, increases are observed in glass transition temperatures, viscosities, elastic moduli and microhardness. These property changes are compared with known effects of grain boundary glass chemistry in silicon nitride ceramics. Oxide sintering additives provide conditions for liquid phase sintering, reacting with surface silica on the $Si_3N_4$ particles and some of the nitride to form SiAlON liquid phases which on cooling remain as intergranular glasses. Thermal expansion mismatch between the grain boundary glass and the silicon nitride causes residual stresses in the material which can be determined from bulk SiAlON glass properties. The tensile residual stresses in the glass phase increase with increasing Y:Al ratio and this correlates with increasing fracture toughness as a result of easier debonding at the glass/${\beta}-Si_3N_4$ interface.