Highpressure phase transformation of silicon （硅的高压相变）.pdf

APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS VOLUME 83, NUMBER 23 8 DECEMBER 2003 High-pressure phase transformation of silicon nitride John Patten,a) Ronnie Fesperman, and Satya Kumar University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina 28223 Sam McSpadden, Jun Qu, and Michael Lance Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6062 Robert Nemanich and Jennifer Huening North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 Received 21 July 2003; accepted 16 October 2003 We provide evidence for a high-pressure phase transformation HPPT in the ceramic material silicon nitride. This HPPT is inferred by a high-pressure diamond anvil cell, Raman spectroscopy, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, and optical and acoustic microscope inspection. In the case of silicon nitride, the HPPT involves a ductile or metallike behavior that is observed in severe deformation processes, such as nanoindentation and micromachining. This pressure-induced plasticity is believed to be similar to that found in silicon and germanium with its origin in the high-pressure metallic -Sn phase formation. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.1632031 There is considerable interest in the production and nometer and micrometer length scales. A thorough descrip- manufacture of engineered systems using advanced ceramic tion of the ductile behavior of ceramics, and evidence of HP materials such as silicon nitride (Si N ) and silicon carbide phases of these nominally brittle materials, is presently not 3 4 SiC.1 Insulators, such as