Sialon

SiAlON ceramics are a specialist class of high-temperature refractory materials, with high strength at ambient and high temperatures, good thermal shock resistance and exceptional resistance to wetting or corrosion by molten non-ferrous metals, compared to other refractory materials such as, for example, alumina.

[1][2] SiAlONs are ceramics based on the elements silicon (Si), aluminium (Al), oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N).

[3] The charge discrepancy caused by the substitution can be compensated by adding metal cations such as Li+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Y3+ and Ln3+, where Ln stands for lanthanide.

Then the shaped form is densified, typically by pressureless sintering or hot isostatic pressing.

It has a great potential as a green down-conversion phosphor for white LEDs; a yellow variant also exists.