Abstract
So long, larger sized rare earth cations than Neodymium (Z=60) were reported to form alpha-SiAlON either in a multi-cation system containing smaller cations or by following special processing conditions. In this study, Praseodymium (Z=59) alone is observed for the first time to promote alpha-SiAlON as a single crystalline phase, prepared under conventional processing conditions of heating and cooling cycle. The appearance of alpha-SiAlON is restricted to the compositional area corresponding to a high level substitution of m(RE1/3Al-N) for m(Si-N) bonds. Microstructure exhibits strain contrast in grains and array of dislocations in low angle grain boundary indicating deformation in lattice. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.