Microstructure and Dielectric Properties of Heat-Treated SiC-AlN Multiphase Ceramics

Silicon carbide is widely used as an important structural material. It is known for its extreme hardness, high temperature antioxygenic properties and good tribological properties. Moreover, SiC is also an intrinsic semiconductor. SiC can react with AlN and form an extensive solid solution at temperatures between 1800 to 21000C, and has excellent mechanical properties. However, in this article, we study the influence of the microstructure and the dielectric properties of SiC ceramics. SiC-AlN solid-solution ceramics were prepared by hot-pressed sintering using Y2O3 as the sintering additive. The size of SiC and AlN powders were 0.6μm and 1.06µm respectively. The content of AlN starting powders was 14vol%. The hot-processing sintered SiC-AlN multiphase ceramics have reached high density at 1950oC in Ar atmosphere under 30MPa.The hot-processed ceramics were subjected to thermal treatments in a range of temperatures between 11000C and 16000C for 3hr. The grain size increased with the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction profiles show that phase relationships. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)) was used to determine fracture surface and the local compositions. Dielectric permittivities and dissipation factor of SiC-AlN composites were investigated with the varieties of annealing temperature and the content of AlN particles. Dielectric constants (ε) and Dielectric loss tangents (tanδ) were measured within the microwave frequency range from 40Hz to10MHz.