Incorporation of the transition metals (Cr and Fe) into beta-SiAlON crystal structure

Abstract

Outstanding properties for SiAlON ceramics can be obtained by tailoring the microstructure through alpha-SiAlON and beta-SiAlON phase content as well as a type of secondary phases. It is so far well known that while some of the elements could be accommodated in alpha-SiAlON structure, beta-SiAlON does not easily accommodate different elements in its structure. In this work, SiAlON ceramics were produced by using beta-Si(3)N(4) starting powder containing small amount of iron and chromium and the possible incorporation of iron and chromium into beta-SiAlON structure was investigated by using analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. As a result of analytical TEM analysis, it is found that transition metals (Cr and Fe) can enter into the beta-SiAlON crystal structure