Dislocation loop and stacking-fault formation in -phase material was studied by annealing powder samples at 1500 and 1750C. Thermally activated vacancies, and structural vacancies which were generated due to the replacement of N by O, were considered to govern the defect structure of this material. Due to vacancy agglomeration, dislocation loops and stacking faults were characteristic structural features of nitride samples which had been fabricated by means of chemical vapor deposition, Si nitridation, silica carbothermal reduction, or imide decomposition.

C.M.Wang, X.Q.Pan, M.Ruhle: Journal of Materials Research, 1996, 11[7], 1725-32