Plasma Etching of α‐Sialon Ceramics

Abstract

Plasma etching of j?-Si3N4, cy-sialon/j?-Si3N4 and a-sialon ceramics were performed with hydrogen glow plasma at 600°C for 10h. The preferential etching of j?-Si3N4 grains was observed. The etching rate of cy-sialon grains and of the grain-boundary glassy phase was distinctly lower than that of B-Si3N4 grains. The size, shape, and distribution of BSi3N4 grains in the a-sialon/&Si3N4 composite ceramics were revealed by the present method. [

Microstructures of Microwave‐Sintered Silicon Nitride with Zirconia as Secondary Particulates

“…. Plasma etching could improve the quality of the SEM image because of the preferential etching of β‐Si 3 N 4 grains 47 . The volumetric ratio of the secondary phases to Si 3 N 4 was 13%, evaluated by the attached grid on the top of Fig.…”

Plasma Etching of Nano‐Structured Precursor‐Derived Ceramic Composites

“…Figure 3(b) also indicates that the etching rate of Si-C-N is faster than that of the SiC filler particles. Mitomo et al 23 compared the etching speed of a-SiAlON, b-Si 3 N 4 , and grain boundary phase (Y 2 O 3 1AlN), and reported that the etching rate of b-Si 3 N 4 was higher than that of the other phases. They reported that this may be because of the higher reactivity of a single compound than the more complex compounds with the activated etching gas.…”

“…Figure 3(b) also indicates that the etching rate of Si–C–N is faster than that of the SiC filler particles. Mitomo et al 23 . compared the etching speed of α‐SiAlON, β‐Si 3 N 4 , and grain boundary phase (Y 2 O 3 +AlN), and reported that the etching rate of β‐Si 3 N 4 was higher than that of the other phases.…”

Surface Structuring of α/β-Sialon Ceramics by Plasma-Etching

“…In this contribution the possibility of a surface structuring method by plasma-etching is presented. For this kind of structuring the α/βsialon ratio has a great influence on the surface topography because of the different etching-rate of αand β-sialon [3].…”