Monday, December 3, 2007

Fantastic Ceramic Microstructure

Microstructure of a gas-pressure sintered silicon nitride. Their property profile is perfect:
  • Extremely high strength
  • Good crack resistance
  • Outstanding wear resistance
  • Good heat conductivity
  • Very low heat expansion
  • Good resistance to sudden changes in temperature



Fractured surface of Si3N4 and AlN










A conventional atomic resolution brightfield image created by imaging a sample of Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) with a transmission electron microscope.











By using the QPI algorithm an atomic resolution phase image can be created. Back propagatingthis phase image to the sample exit surface yields the view seen in the upper half of thisimage. The phase corresponding to the minimum amplitude variation is shown in the lowerhalf, where some of the Silicon (red) and Nitrogen (green) atoms have been indicated.




























































TEM micrograph of the silicon nitride ceramic powder.

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