Materials
Forming Aluminum Oxynitride
Related Patents: 7,459,122
Contact: Lisa Nate
Phone: (208) 526-2426
E-mail: Send E-mail
INL's latest advancement in survivability technology is a new procedure used to produce transparent aluminum oxynitride (ALON). ALON ceramic offers the potential of ballistic protection with a commensurate weight savings compared to traditional glass or polymer-based transparent armor. ALON has been shown to repulse lethal-armor-piercing rounds at a fraction of the thickness and overall weight of glass or polymer laminates.The ALON-soluble powder would be a liquid-promoting compound that would be sintered to eliminate residual porosity and produce optically transparent ALON without the hot isostatic pressing operation. A single high-temperature sintering operation is used to promote the formation of a transient liquid phase. The liquid phase enables the elemental powder particles to freely rearrange and rapidly consolidate, thereby eliminating porosity.