Abstract
Previous investigations of the replacement of silicon by aluminium and nitrogen by oxygen in β-silicon nitride have been based primarily on X-ray powder diffraction studies. In the present work this technique is coupled with parallel infra-red studies. X-ray analyses of sialons over a wide composition range confirm previous observations that increasing substitution of aluminium for silicon and nitrogen for oxygen in β-silicon nitride is accompanied by an increase in cell size, with no evidence of any other structural modification. Parallel infra-red analyses show shifts in certain of the infra-red absorption bands to lower wavenumbers as the degree of substitution increases. Changes in the infrared spectra at the composition Si2Al4N4O4 indicate structural modifications which are not apparent from the X-ray investigations. It is suggested that these changes are a result of the ordering of the different atom types at this composition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. H. Jack, J. Mater. Sci. 11 (1976) 1135.
R. J. Lumby, B. North and A. J. Taylor Spec. Ceram. 6 (1975) 283.
Y. Oyama and O. Kamigaito, Yoggo-Kyokai-Shi 80 (1972) 327.
D. M. Adams, Coord. Chem. Rev. 10 (1073) 183.
W. B. White, “The Infrared Spectra of Minerals”, edited by V. C. Farmer (Mineralogical Society, London, 1974) p. 87.
D. Hardie and K. H. Jack, Nature 180 (1957) 332.
S. Wild, P. Grieveson and K. H. Jack, Spec. Ceram. 5 (1972) 385.
C. S. Thompson and M. E. Wadsworth, Amer. Min. 42 (1957) 334.
S. Hafner and F. Laves, Z. Krist 109 (1957) 204.
S. Wild and H. Elliott, unpublished work (1976).
W. Gardy, J. Chem. Phys. 14 (1946) 305.
Y. S. Chen, W. Shockley and G. L. Pearson, Phys. Rev. 151 (1966) 648.
I. F. Chang and S. S. Mitra ibid. 172 (1968) 924.
J. R. Ferraro, C. Postmus, S. S. Mitra and C. J. Hoskins, Appl. Opt. 9 (1970) 5.
W. B. White and V. G. Keramidas, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 54 (1971) 472.
W. L. Bragg and W. H. Zachariasen, Z. Krist, 72 (1930) 518.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wild, S., Elliott, H. & Thompson, D.P. Combined infra-red and X-ray studies of β-silicon nitride and β′-sialons. J Mater Sci 13, 1769–1775 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00548740
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00548740