Transparent Aluminum Oxynitride Ceramics Processing
Summary
Transparent aluminium oxynitride (AlON) ceramics combine mechanical robustness, thermal stability and optical clarity across visible and infrared wavelengths, making them attractive for advanced armour, sensor windows and high-temperature optics. The principal processing routes encompass solid-state reaction and carbothermal reduction of high-purity alumina and aluminium nitride powders under controlled nitrogen atmospheres, often aided by sintering additives such as rare-earth oxides or silicon nitride. Following powder synthesis, densification is achieved via conventional sintering, hot isostatic pressing (HIP) or pressureless treatments. Key challenges include achieving full density without secondary phases, suppressing grain-boundary porosity and limiting light-scattering defects such as twins or residual carbon. Recent advances have fine-tuned additive chemistry and atmosphere control to lower sintering temperatures, promote uniform microstructures and optimise transparency by eliminating detrimental interfaces and pores. Ongoing efforts seek scalable, cost-effective routes to submicrometre-grained AlON bodies with near-theoretical densities and transmittances exceeding 80% at mid-infrared wavelengths.
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Transparent Aluminum Oxynitride Ceramics Processing publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in transparent aluminum oxynitride ceramics processing across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Aluminium oxynitride (AlON): A spinel-structured ceramic of nominal composition Al₂₃O₂₇N₅, valued for its combination of optical transparency and mechanical strength.
Carbothermal reduction and nitridation: A powder-synthesis route in which alumina is reduced by carbon in nitrogen at elevated temperatures to form AlON.
Sintering additives: Minor oxide or nitride dopants (e.g. Y₂O₃, Si₃N₄) introduced to promote densification and inhibit pore formation during sintering.
Hot isostatic pressing (HIP): A densification technique applying high temperature and isostatic gas pressure to consolidate powders into fully dense ceramics.
Reaction sintering: A process in which constituent powders react in situ during heating to form a target phase while concurrently densifying.
References
- Fabrication of AlON transparent ceramics with Si 3 N 4 sintering additive. Journal of Advanced Ceramics (2023).
- Preparation of AlON Powder by Carbothermal Reduction and Nitridation with Assisting by Silane Coupling Agent. Materials (2023).
- Reaction Sintering of MgAlON at 1500 °C from Al2O3, MgO and AlN and Its Wettability by AlSi7Mg. Crystals (2022).
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