TY - JOUR
T1 - Direct observation of intergranular cracks in sintered silicon nitride
AU - Ii, Seiichiro
AU - Iwamoto, Chihiro
AU - Matsunaga, Katsuyuki
AU - Yamamoto, Takahisa
AU - Yoshiya, Masato
AU - Ikuhara, Yuichi
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Active Nano-Characterization and Technology Project, special coordination funds of the ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of the Japan Government. Discussions with Professor H. Gu, Professor I. Tanaka and Professor H. Adachi are acknowledged.
PY - 2004/9/1
Y1 - 2004/9/1
N2 - Crack propagation along grain boundaries in sintered silicon nitride (Si3N4 was investigated by in-situ straining experiments at room temperature in a transmission electron microscope, using a high-precision microindenter. Using this in-situ technique, cracks introduced were introduced in situ and observed propagating along grain boundaries. High-resolution electron microscopy observation revealed that the propagation of the intergranular crack takes place at an interface between the Si 3N4 grains and the intergranular glassy film (IGF). This suggests that the Si3N4/IGF interface has a relatively high excess energy. The result was compared with a theoretical calculation using a molecular dynamics simulation.
AB - Crack propagation along grain boundaries in sintered silicon nitride (Si3N4 was investigated by in-situ straining experiments at room temperature in a transmission electron microscope, using a high-precision microindenter. Using this in-situ technique, cracks introduced were introduced in situ and observed propagating along grain boundaries. High-resolution electron microscopy observation revealed that the propagation of the intergranular crack takes place at an interface between the Si 3N4 grains and the intergranular glassy film (IGF). This suggests that the Si3N4/IGF interface has a relatively high excess energy. The result was compared with a theoretical calculation using a molecular dynamics simulation.
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U2 - 10.1080/14786430410001671485
DO - 10.1080/14786430410001671485
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:4444293914
VL - 84
SP - 2767
EP - 2775
JO - Philosophical Magazine
JF - Philosophical Magazine
SN - 1478-6435
IS - 25-26
ER -