Premium
The SiO 2 ‐Si 3 N 4 Interface, Part I: Nature of the Interphase
Author(s) -
Ogbuji Linus U. J. T.,
Bryan Scott R.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1995.tb08481.x
Subject(s) - suboxide , oxide , interphase , kinetics , diffusion , materials science , mineralogy , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , chemical engineering , thermodynamics , metallurgy , physics , environmental chemistry , genetics , quantum mechanics , engineering , biology
Recent reports in the literature have suggested that Si2N2O forms in the oxidation of Si 3 N 4 as a buffer suboxide below the silica crust, and that equilibrium between SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 requires the presence of this buffer. Here we report the examination of SiO 2 /Si 3 N 4 boundaries of different genesis, by a variety of techniques, all of which failed to detect Si 2 N 2 O. What was found in each case is a graded suboxide whose composition merges seamlessly with the higher oxide above and the Si3N4 below. Part I presents the results of compositional depth profiling across the suboxide. In Part II a model is proposed to explain how O2 diffusion in the graded suboxide limits Si3N4 oxidation kinetics.