| Abstract Scope |
Silicon carbide (SiC) exhibits excellent thermal conductivity. Recently, SiC ceramics with a thermal conductivity of ~260 W/m-K has been developed in polycrystalline SiC ceramic liquid-phase sintered (LPS) with Y2O3-Sc2O3 additives at 2050 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere. From the additive used to the sintering atmosphere selected, many factors affect the thermal conductivity of the SiC. In this presentation, important factors that are known to determine the thermal conductivity of LPS-SiC (lattice oxygen/nitrogen content, porosity, grain size, grain boundary structure, phase transformation, and additive composition) are reviewed. While reviewing the influence of each factor on thermal conductivity, hidden correlations among different factors are also discussed. Among the factors that are claimed to be important, we suggest a few factors that are more critical to thermal conductivity than others. Based on the most critical factors on the thermal conductivity of LPS-SiC, a complete engineers’guide for high thermal conductivity LPS-SiC is proposed. |