| abstract |
A method for fabricating electrically conductive silicon carbide articles includes doping and sintering submicron silicon carbide particles (100) using submicron alumina as the dopant source. Submicron alumina particles are made by milling aluminum powder. Despite the ductility of metallic aluminum, it is successfully ball milled in an aqueous medium through the creation and abrasion of successive layers of an alumina skin to yield alumina particles as small as 0.01 microns across. When suitably composed mixtures of silicon carbide and alumina are molded into a green body and heated sufficiently in a non-oxidizing furnace atmosphere, the alumina breaks down to metallic aluminum which diffuses into the silicon carbide. Thus, articles with desirable electrical and mechanical properties can be made with a mass as small as 2 grams. |