L. Zhang et al., STRUCTURE AND BOND PROPERTIES OF COMPACTED AND HEAT-TREATED SILICON-NITRIDE PARTICLES, Physica status solidi. a, Applied research, 136(2), 1993, pp. 291-300
Particles of silicon nitride with dimensions < 15 nm are compacted int
o macroscopic solids (nanostructured silicon nitride solids, NANO-SSNS
) and heat-treated under differing conditions. The structure and the b
ond nature of these silicon nitride solids are investigated by X-ray r
adial distribution functions, X-ray photoelectron spectra, X-ray diffr
action patterns, and transmission electron microscopy observations. Th
e particles do not grow after heat treatment at various temperatures b
etween 25 and 1300-degrees-C, and the volume fraction of the interface
in NANO-SSNS is still large and the interfaces remain characteristics
of the initial solid. The structure of the interfaces is a new type o
f short-range order structure differing from that inside the particles
, i.e. the concentration of Si ions with coordination number < 4 is la
rge. The bond structure of these materials is not the typical covalent
bond. After heat treatments in the range 25 to 1300-degrees-C, specim
ens retain the structure of the amorphous state.