Synthesis and characterization of VLS-derived silicon carbide whiskers

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6934828

Shalek, P D; Phillips, D S; Christianson, D E; Katz, J D; Parkinson, W J; Petrovic, J J

Silicon carbide (SiC) whiskers have great potential, some already realized, in reinforcing ceramic matrix composites to give significant improvements in toughness and strength. Los Alamos has been developing the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process to grow single crystal BETA-SiC fibers having relatively few defects and diameters of from 3 to 5 ..mu..m and lengths up to 100 mm. These whiskers have superb mechanical properties-strengths up to 16 GPa (2.3 Msi) and elastic modulus of 580 GPa (84 Msi) - and should have excellent stability at high temperatures. Two basic synthesis routes were investigated: 1) in situ SiO generation and 2) external gaseous Si source. Process 1) had a much more extensive prior developmental history and has been developed at Los Alamos to the point where significant and reproducible yields of prime whiskers can be obtained and scaleup could be considered. What we have learned about this process and its product will be the subject of this paper. 14 refs., 17 figs., 31 tabs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6934828
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-88-2536; CONF-8806103-2; ON: DE88016226
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360201* -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Preparation & Fabrication
360202 -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Structure & Phase Studies
360203 -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Mechanical Properties
CARBIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CRYSTALS
DIAGRAMS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
FLUIDS
GASES
IN-SITU PROCESSING
KINETICS
LIQUIDS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MICROSCOPY
MICROSTRUCTURE
MONOCRYSTALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE DIAGRAMS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SILICON CARBIDES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
SURFACES
TENSILE PROPERTIES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
VAPORS
WHISKERS