Identification of Ti incorporation into beta-SiAlON crystal structure through transmission electron microscopy techniques

Abstract

In this paper, we report the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations on the incorporation of Ti transition metal element into beta-SiAlON crystal structure in a bulk beta-SiAlON-TiN composite material. Considering our energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and electron energy loss (EEL) spectroscopy results acquired by using nanometre-scale focused electron probe in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) mode, the Ti-K characteristic X-ray lines and Ti-L-3,L-2 edges were detected in the chemical composition of the beta-SiAlON grains. These results clearly reveal that Ti can enter into the beta-SiAlON crystal structure. It is anticipated that this data will provide the new engineering insights on the production of transition metal element doped SiAlON-based materials for different applications