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Abstract

A method for fabricating electrically conductive silicon carbide articles by doping and sintering submicron silicon carbide particles using sub-micron alumina as the dopant source. Submicron alumina particles are made by milling aluminum powder. Despite the ductility of metallic aluminum, it is successfully ball milled in an aqueous medium through the creation and abrasion of successive layers of an alumina skin to yield alumina particles as small as 0.01 .mu.m across. When suitably composed mixtures of the silicon carbide and alumina are molded into a green body and heated sufficiently in a non-oxidizing furnace atmosphere, the alumina breaks down to metallic aluminum which diffuses into the silicon carbide. The small particle sizes and the presence of a sintering aid enable rapid processing kinetics which favor saturation of the silicon carbide by the aluminum and inhibit grain growth. Consequently, articles with desirable electrical and mechanical properties can be conveniently and inexpensively made with a mass as small as 2 grams.

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