Claims
- 1. A process for the production of a sintered material for recording/reading head slider comprising the steps of:
- preparing a powdery mixture which comprises 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one component selected from the component group A consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs and compounds thereof, 5 to 15% of erbium oxide, and the balance being silicon carbide powder, wherein said erbium oxide and said component group A are uniformly dispersed through said silicon carbide powder;
- forming a substantially micropore-free, highly densified sintered material by sintering the powder mixture.
- 2. A process for the production of a sintered material for recording/reading head slider comprising the steps of:
- preparing a powdery mixture which comprises 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one component selected from the component group A consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs and compounds thereof, 5 to 15% of erbium oxide, a further sintering aid comprising at least one of Be, BeO, B, B.sub.4 C, Al, AlN and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 in an amount of up to 2% by weight, and the balance being silicon carbide powder, wherein said erbium oxide, said component group A, and said sintering aid are uniformly dispersed through said silicon carbide powder;
- forming a substantially micropore-free, highly densified sintered material by sintering the powder mixture.
- 3. A process for the production of a sintered material for recording/reading head slider comprising the steps of:
- preparing a powdery mixture which comprises 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one component selected from the component group A consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs and compounds thereof, a compound of garnet crystal structure consisting essentially of erbium oxide and aluminum oxide in amounts of 2% to 12% by weight and up to 2% by weight based on the total composition, respectively, and expressed by the formula Er.sub.3 (Al,Er).sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3 through (Er,Al).sub.3 Al.sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3, and the balance being silicon carbide powder, wherein said compound of garnet crystal structure and said component group A are uniformly dispersed throughout said silicon carbide powder;
- forming a substantially micropore-free, highly densified sintered material by sintering the powder mixture under the application of high pressure.
- 4. A process for the production of a sintered material for recording/reading head slider comprising the steps of:
- preparing a powdery mixture which comprises 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one component selected from the component group A consisting of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs and compounds thereof, a compound of garnet crystal structure consisting essentially of erbium oxide and aluminum oxide in amounts of 2% to 12% by weight and up to 2% by weight based on the total composition, respectively, and expressed by the formula Er.sub.3 (Al,Er).sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3 through (Er,Al).sub.3 Al.sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3, a further sintering aid comprising at least one of Be, BeO, B and B.sub.4 C in an amount of up to 2% by weight, and the balance being silicon carbide powder, wherein said compound of garnet crystal structure, said sintering aid, and component group A are uniformly dispersed throughout said silicon carbide powder;
- forming a substantially micropore-free, highly densified sintered material by sintering the powder mixture under the application of high pressure.
- 5. A process as defined in any of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein said compounds for the component Group A are oxides, carbides, borides or nitrides.
- 6. A process as defined in claim 3 or 4, wherein the compound of garnet crystal structure amounts to 4-10% by weight.
- 7. A process as defined in claim 3 or 4, wherein said compound of garnet crystal structure is expressed by the formula Er.sub.3 Al.sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3.
- 8. A process as defined in claim 3 or 4, wherein said compound of garnet crystal structure includes a minor amount of Er.sub.x Al.sub.(1-x) O.sub.3 where x is smaller than one.
- 9. A process as defined in claim 3 or 4, wherein the process comprises a further step of preparing said compound of garnet crystal structure by solid phase reaction of a mixture of aluminum oxide and erbium oxide.
- 10. A process as defined in claim 9, wherein said solid phase reaction is effected at 1300.degree.-1600.degree. C.
- 11. A process as defined in claim 1 or 2, wherein the sintering is conducted at 2000.degree.-2300.degree. C. without applying kinetic force upon the mass to be sintered.
- 12. A process as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the sintering is conducted through hot-pressing (HP) or hot isostatic pressing (HIP) method.
- 13. A process as defined in claim 12, wherein the sintering is conducted at 1900.degree.-2100.degree. C.
- 14. A recording/reading head slider comprising a slider substrate member produced by the process as defined in any of claim 1, 2, 3 or 4.
- 15. A process as defined in claim 3 or 4, wherein said compound of garnet crystal structure is a synthetic compound.
- 16. A process as defined in claim 15, wherein the process comprises a further step of synthesizing said synthetic compound of garnet crystal structure by heating a mixture of erbium oxide and aluminum oxide with a ratio corresponding to said formula.
- 17. A process as defined in claim 16, wherein the synthesizing is conducted approximately at 1300.degree.-1600.degree. C.
- 18. A process as defined in claims 1 or 2, wherein the sintering is conducted at 1,900.degree.-2,100.degree. C. under the application of high pressure.
- 19. A method for reducing the growth of the crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material, comprising the steps of:
- uniformly dispersing throughout a silicon carbide powder (1) 5 to 15% of erbium oxide and (2) 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one group A component selected from Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs; and
- causing said erbium oxide and said group A component to reduce the growth of the crystal grains of said silicon carbide by sintering said silicon carbide powder in uniform dispersion with said erbium oxide and said group A component.
- 20. The method for reducing the growth of the crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 19, further comprising uniformly dispersing through said silicon carbide powder from an amount up to 2% by weight of a sintering aid comprising at least one of Be, BeO, B, B.sub.4 C, Al, AlN and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 in conjunction with said erbium oxide and said group A component.
- 21. A method for reducing the growth of crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material, comprising the steps of:
- uniformly dispersing throughout a silicon carbide powder (1) a compound of garnet crystal structure consisting essentially of erbium oxide and aluminum oxide in amounts of 2% to 12% by weight and up to 2% by weight based on the total composition, respectively, and expressed by the formula Er.sub.3 (Al,Er).sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3 through (Er,Al).sub.3 Al.sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3, and (2) 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one group A component selected from Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs; and
- causing said compound of garnet crystal structure and said group A component to reduce growth of the crystal grains of said silicon carbide by sintering said silicon carbide powder in uniform dispersion with said compound of garnet crystal structure and said group A component.
- 22. The method for reducing the growth of the crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 21, further comprising uniformly dispersing through said silicon carbide powder from an amount up to 2% by weight of a sintering aid comprising at least one of Be, BeO, B, B.sub.4 C, Al, AlN and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 in conjunction with said compound of garnet crystal structure and said group A component.
- 23. A method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material, comprising the steps of:
- uniformly dispersing throughout a silicon carbide powder (1) 5 to 15% of erbium oxide and (2) 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one group A component selected from Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs; and
- causing said erbium oxide and said group A component to reduce the number or size of the micropores of said silicon carbide crystal grains by sintering said uniformly dispersed silicon carbide-containing powder under the application of high pressure to form a substantially micropore free, highly densified sintered silicon carbide-containing material.
- 24. The method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 23, further comprising uniformly dispersing throughout said silicon carbide powder from an amount up to 2% by weight of a sintering aid comprising at least one of Be, BeO, B, B.sub.4 C, Al, AlN and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 with said erbium oxide and said group A component.
- 25. A method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material, comprising the steps of:
- uniformly dispersing throughout a silicon carbide powder (1) a compound of garnet crystal structure consisting essentially of erbium oxide and aluminum oxide in amounts of 2% to 12% by weight and up to 2% by weight based on the total composition, respectively, and expressed by the formula Er.sub.3 (Al,Er).sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3 through (Er,Al).sub.3 Al.sub.2 (AlO.sub.4).sub.3, and (2) 0.5 to 6.0% by weight of at least one group A component selected from Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Mg, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and Cs; and
- causing said compound of garnet crystal structure and said group A component to reduce the number or size of the micropores of said silicon carbide crystal grains by sintering said uniformly dispersed silicon carbide-containing powder under the application of high pressure to form a substantially micropore free, highly densified sintered silicon carbide-containing material.
- 26. The method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 25, further comprising uniformly dispersing throughout said silicon carbide powder from an amount up to 2% by weight of a sintering aid comprising at least one of Be, BeO, B, B.sub.4 C, Al, AlN and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 with said compound of garnet crystal structure and said group A component.
- 27. The method for reducing the growth of the crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 19, wherein said reduction of the growth of said crystal grains of said silicon carbide is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 2 microns.
- 28. The method for reducing the growth of crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 20, wherein said reduction of the growth of said crystal grains of said silicon carbide is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 2 microns.
- 29. The method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 23, wherein said reduction of the number or size of the micropores of said silicon carbide grains is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 2 microns.
- 30. The method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 24, wherein said reduction of the number or size of the micropores of said silicon carbide grains is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 2 microns.
- 31. The method for reducing the growth of crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 21, wherein said reduction of the growth of said crystal grains of said silicon carbide is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 2 microns.
- 32. The method for reducing the growth of crystal grains of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 22, wherein said reduction of the growth of said crystal grains of said silicon carbide is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 2 microns.
- 33. The method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 25, wherein said reduction of the number or size of the micropores of said silicon carbide grains is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 1 micron.
- 34. The method of increasing the density in relation to the theoretical density of a silicon carbide-containing material according to claim 26, wherein said reduction of the number or size of the micropores of said silicon carbide grains is such that there are substantially no pores having a diameter exceeding about 1 micron.
Priority Claims (1)
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59-83674 |
Apr 1984 |
JPX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/367,123, filed Jun. 16, 1989, now abandoned, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 07/155,851, filed Feb. 16, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,638, which is a continuation of application Sr. No. 06/727,756, filed Apr. 26, 1985, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Divisions (1)
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155851 |
Feb 1988 |
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Continuations (2)
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367123 |
Jun 1989 |
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727756 |
Apr 1985 |
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