Influence of Powder Characteristics on Sintering of AlN Ceramics

The sintering behavior of AlN powders with different particle sizes and specific surface areas was investigated in the present work. 4.5-8.0mass% of the as-synthesized sintering aid from the Li2O-Y2O3-CaO system was added to these AlN powders, and they were then fired at 1400-1650oC for 6h. At the initial stage of sintering the fine AlN powder, it was recognized that sintering of primary particles occurred in agglomerations. With an increase of firing temperature, particles were rearranged and grains grew rapidly at the final stage. On contrary, in sintering of samples using the coarse AlN powder, the densification increased with raising sintering temperatures slowly, and the sintering temperature higher than 1650oC was required to obtain densified specimens.