Statistical analysis of the intergranular film thickness in silicon nitride ceramics

Journal Article · Sun Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1993.tb08319.x· OSTI ID:5993750

Kleebe, H; Cinibulk, M K; Ruehle, M ^[1]; Cannon, R M ^[2]

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1. Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Metallforschung, Stuttgart (Germany). Inst. fuer Werkstoffwissenschaft
2. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)

Silicon nitride materials typically reveal thin amorphous intergranular films along grain boundaries, with only the exception of special boundaries. It is known that such grain-boundary films strongly affect the high-temperature properties of the bulk material. High-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) was used to study these amorphous films in different Si[sub 3]N[sub 4] ceramics. The observed film thicknesses at grain boundaries in these materials varied between 5 and 15 [angstrom]. It was shown that the grain-boundary film thickness strongly depends on film chemistry. Careful inspections of film-thickness measurements across grain boundaries in a given material suggest that the film widths vary on the order of 1 [angstrom]. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation should allow for the determination of the standard deviation of the film thickness. The amorphous film widths along grain boundaries in four materials were measured over the entire length (up to 1 [mu]m) of the grain boundary between two triple points. Forty to fifty data points were evaluated for each boundary, giving a Gaussian-like distribution of the film thickness around a median value, which corresponded well with the film width measured from single HREM micrographs. The accuracy achieved by the statistical method was better than [plus minus] 1 [angstrom].

• OSTI ID: 5993750
• Journal Information: Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States) Vol. 76:8; ISSN 0002-7820; ISSN JACTAW
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360202* -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Structure & Phase Studies
ACCURACY
ADDITIVES
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
AMORPHOUS STATE
ANNEALING
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
DATA
DIMENSIONS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FABRICATION
FILMS
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HEAT TREATMENTS
INFORMATION
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MICROSCOPY
MICROSTRUCTURE
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PNICTIDES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON NITRIDES
SINTERING
THICKNESS
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
WIDTH
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM OXIDES