Sintering of AN Granules and Its Properties
Shoichi KUME, Ikuko YAMADA, Koji WATARI, and Kenshi MITSUISHI
Abstract:AlN granules, containing 5 mass% Y2O3, were sintered at various conditions in a nitrogen flowing atmosphere to investigate its sinterability. The resulting microstructures were characterized as well. AlN granules sintered at 1850C for 15 min were densified to a relative density of 98 %. In the granules sintered at 1600C for 15 min, AlYO3 and Al2Y4O9 secondary phases were identified by XRD, due to the reaction between Y2O3 additive and Al2O3 impurity from AlN granules. Y2O3 was formed in the granules sintered at 1850C for longer than 3 h by the reduction reaction of AlYO3 and Al2Y4O9 with the reducing nitrogen atmosphere. Oxygen content of the granules sintered at 1850C for 24 h decreased to one third of that of dewaxed granules. Key Words:AlN, Granule, Sintering, Y2O3, Oxygen content