Selected Applications of Silicon Nitride

Owing to its excellent mechanical, thermal, and thermophysical properties, silicon nitride finds applications in aerospace gas turbines, internal combustion engines, heat engines, and a variety of dies, molds and tools for metal manufacturing and forming (Von Hocking et al., 1994 Riley, 1996 Petzow and Herrmann, 2002 Lin et al., 2006). 

Gas turbine engine technology is an area likely to benefit most from future growth, as reduced fuel consumption and reduced emissions become ever stronger drivers. 

However, the introduction of silicon nitride for stationary blades of gas turbines, burner cans, and nose cone shrouds has been slower than expected, mainly because small to medium-sized turbine engines have yet to find wide application. 

As silicon nitride has a higher density than amorphous silicon oxide, it will serve as a better barrier to metal atom diffusion, and consequently it is used in VLSI production to prevent the cross-penetration of dopant atoms from one region of the device to another. During the manufacture of devices based on gallium arsenide, silicon nitride coatings will prevent the evaporation of (toxic) arsenic. Further information on the use of silicon nitride in semiconductor processing is available elsewhere (Belyi et al., 1988). 

Silicon nitride thin Aims have also been applied as gate dielectrics for specific MIS memory devices, and as a moisture barrier for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. 

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