Impact of Stoichiometric Silicon Nitride Growth Conditions on Dispersion and Broadband Kerr Microcombs in the Near-Visible

Author(s):  
Gregory Moille ◽  
Daron Westly ◽  
Edgar F. Perez ◽  
Ashutosh Rao ◽  
Xiyuan Lu ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
K.B. Alexander ◽  
H. T. Lin ◽  
P. F. Becher

Advances in the development of ceramics and ceramic composites rely on an understanding of the mechanisms which contribute to the formation of desired microstructural features or control the mechanical response of the material. For example, in silicon nitride, careful control of the liquid phase composition and growth conditions permits the development of elongated grains which provide in-situ reinforcement of the material. Electron microscopy studies have aided in understanding the solution-reprecipitation process which controls the growth of silicon nitride as well as the role of the liquid phase on this process. The composition and thickness of the residual glass phase at the grain boundaries and triple points are important for both the toughening and creep response of the material and can only be realistically analyzed by high resolution analytical and electron imaging techniques.


2013 ◽  
Vol 537 ◽  
pp. 12-15
Author(s):  
Chun Ya Li ◽  
Xi Feng Li ◽  
Long Long Chen ◽  
Ji Feng Shi ◽  
Jian Hua Zhang

Under different growth conditions, silicon nitride (SiNx) thin films were deposited successfully on Si(100) substrates and glass substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The thickness, refractive index and growth rate of the thin films were tested by ellipsometer. The surface morphologies of the thin films were investigated using atomic force microscope (AFM). The average transmittance in the visible region was over 90%.


Author(s):  
D. R. Clarke ◽  
G. Thomas

Grain boundaries have long held a special significance to ceramicists. In part, this has been because it has been impossible until now to actually observe the boundaries themselves. Just as important, however, is the fact that the grain boundaries and their environs have a determing influence on both the mechanisms by which powder compaction occurs during fabrication, and on the overall mechanical properties of the material. One area where the grain boundary plays a particularly important role is in the high temperature strength of hot-pressed ceramics. This is a subject of current interest as extensive efforts are being made to develop ceramics, such as silicon nitride alloys, for high temperature structural applications. In this presentation we describe how the techniques of lattice fringe imaging have made it possible to study the grain boundaries in a number of refractory ceramics, and illustrate some of the findings.


Author(s):  
H.-J. Kleebe ◽  
J.S. Vetrano ◽  
J. Bruley ◽  
M. Rühle

It is expected that silicon nitride based ceramics will be used as high-temperature structural components. Though much progress has been made in both processing techniques and microstructural control, the mechanical properties required have not yet been achieved. It is thought that the high-temperature mechanical properties of Si3N4 are limited largely by the secondary glassy phases present at triple points. These are due to various oxide additives used to promote liquid-phase sintering. Therefore, many attempts have been performed to crystallize these second phase glassy pockets in order to improve high temperature properties. In addition to the glassy or crystallized second phases at triple points a thin amorphous film exists at two-grain junctions. This thin film is found even in silicon nitride formed by hot isostatic pressing (HIPing) without additives. It has been proposed by Clarke that an amorphous film can exist at two-grain junctions with an equilibrium thickness.


Author(s):  
Gareth Thomas

Silicon nitride and silicon nitride based-ceramics are now well known for their potential as hightemperature structural materials, e.g. in engines. However, as is the case for many ceramics, in order to produce a dense product, sintering additives are utilized which allow liquid-phase sintering to occur; but upon cooling from the sintering temperature residual intergranular phases are formed which can be deleterious to high-temperature strength and oxidation resistance, especially if these phases are nonviscous glasses. Many oxide sintering additives have been utilized in processing attempts world-wide to produce dense creep resistant components using Si3N4 but the problem of controlling intergranular phases requires an understanding of the glass forming and subsequent glass-crystalline transformations that can occur at the grain boundaries.


Author(s):  
Nancy J. Tighe

Silicon nitride is one of the ceramic materials being considered for the components in gas turbine engines which will be exposed to temperatures of 1000 to 1400°C. Test specimens from hot-pressed billets exhibit flexural strengths of approximately 50 MN/m2 at 1000°C. However, the strength degrades rapidly to less than 20 MN/m2 at 1400°C. The strength degradition is attributed to subcritical crack growth phenomena evidenced by a stress rate dependence of the flexural strength and the stress intensity factor. This phenomena is termed slow crack growth and is associated with the onset of plastic deformation at the crack tip. Lange attributed the subcritical crack growth tb a glassy silicate grain boundary phase which decreased in viscosity with increased temperature and permitted a form of grain boundary sliding to occur.


Author(s):  
B. J. Hockey ◽  
S. M. Wiederhorn

ATEM has been used to characterize three different silicon nitride materials after tensile creep in air at 1200 to 1400° C. In Part I, the microstructures and microstructural changes that occur during testing were described, and consistent with that description the designations and sintering aids for these materials were: W/YAS, a SiC whisker reinforced Si3N4 processed with yttria (6w/o) and alumina (1.5w/o); YAS, Si3N4 processed with yttria (6 w/o) and alumina (1.5w/o); and YS, Si3N4 processed with yttria (4.0 w/o). This paper, Part II, addresses the interfacial cavitation processes that occur in these materials and which are ultimately responsible for creep rupture.


Author(s):  
K.M. Hones ◽  
P. Sheldon ◽  
B.G. Yacobi ◽  
A. Mason

There is increasing interest in growing epitaxial GaAs on Si substrates. Such a device structure would allow low-cost substrates to be used for high-efficiency cascade- junction solar cells. However, high-defect densities may result from the large lattice mismatch (∼4%) between the GaAs epilayer and the silicon substrate. These defects can act as nonradiative recombination centers that can degrade the optical and electrical properties of the epitaxially grown GaAs. For this reason, it is important to optimize epilayer growth conditions in order to minimize resulting dislocation densities. The purpose of this paper is to provide an indication of the quality of the epitaxially grown GaAs layers by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to examine dislocation type and density as a function of various growth conditions. In this study an intermediate Ge layer was used to avoid nucleation difficulties observed for GaAs growth directly on Si substrates. GaAs/Ge epilayers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si substrates in a manner similar to that described previously.


Author(s):  
Tapan Roy

Ceramic fibers are being used to improve the mechanical properties of metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites. This paper reports a study of the structural and other microstructural characteristics of silicon nitride whiskers using both conventional TEM and high resolution electron microscopy.The whiskers were grown by T. E. Scott of Michigan Technological University, by passing nitrogen over molten silicon in the presence of a catalyst. The whiskers were ultrasonically dispersed in chloroform and picked up on holey carbon grids. The diameter of some whiskers (<70nm) was small enough to allow direct observation without thinning. Conventional TEM was performed on a Philips EM400T while high resolution imaging was done on a JEOL 200CX microscope with a point to point resolution of 0.23nm.


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