Aluminium oxynitride uses

Aluminium oxynitride uses

Alumina oxynitride, the full name is transparent high hardness bulletproof aluminum material. (Chemical formula AION)

Hardness of quartz glass is 4 times, sapphire 85%, can withstand the high temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius.

Performance :1.6 inches thick to withstand.5 caliber bullets.

Production of alumina nitride

Alumina nitride powder is poured into a rubber mold to form the desired rough model. Under hydraulic pressure, the model was compressed to 15,000 psi until the powder turned into a green, grainy shape. This granular structure is then heated to 2,000 degrees Celsius for several days. Although the molten material is opaque, it can be optically transparent after mechanical polishing.

The resulting material is expensive, so it is usually suitable only for high-performance applications, especially in the military, such as bulletproof Windows for armored vehicles, lenses for battlefield optics, telescope domes, and transparent circular Windows that cover the tops of missile sensors.

Properties of alumina nitride ceramics

Basic properties of alumina nitride

γ-AlON (AION) is a kind of transparent polycrystalline ceramic. It is a new kind of polycrystalline infrared material, which has high optical transmittance in visible to mid-infrared. Its greatest advantage is that it has optical isotropy, and has good transmittance in the mid-infrared band (transmittance of more than 80% in the range of wavelength 0.2 ~ 6.0μm), while alumina nitride also has good physical, mechanical and chemical properties. Therefore, transparent AION ceramic is the preferred material for missile fairing, infrared window material and bulletproof armor material.

The advantage of aluminum nitride material

The optical properties of AlON transparent ceramics are similar to those of sapphire and spinel, and the bending strength of ALon transparent ceramics is close to that of sapphire and obviously higher than that of spinel. The processing cost of window materials prepared by sapphire single crystal is very high, and it is difficult to obtain large-size products, while AlON ceramics can realize the preparation of large-size and complex shape products by advanced ceramic preparation methods.

Application of AlON transparent ceramics

Alumina nitride (AlON) transparent ceramics have the advantages of high strength, high hardness, corrosion resistance, good thermal shock and so on. At the same time, the wave penetration range is large, the linear transmittance is large, so it has a huge application prospect in the military field of national defense and the commercial field. Alumina nitrite has been rated as "one of the most important defense materials in the 21st century" by the US military. The development and research of AION transparent ceramic materials has become one of the hot spots in the research and development of transparent ceramic materials.

Alumina nitride transparent ceramics are often used in military applications and high-end commercial applications because of their high cost. Some application fields of alumina nitride transparent ceramics are described below.

1. Infrared window

AlON transparent ceramics exhibit excellent optical and mechanical properties, with outstanding comprehensive properties (see Table 1). It has good linear transmittance (over 80%) in ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared bands, and good isotropy in optical and mechanical properties, making it a widely used infrared transparent material with mature preparation technology at present.

2. Transparent armor

The biggest potential application market for AlON transparent ceramics is transparent armor. AlON transparent ceramics can be used as a bulletproof window for armored vehicles and helicopters.

AlON transparent armor is thinner, lighter and stronger than traditional bulletproof glass, which can not only significantly reduce the overall weight and thickness of the armor, but also improve the bulletproof characteristics. In addition, AlON transparent ceramics have excellent wear resistance, scratch resistance, sand, scratch will not affect its transparency, compared with the traditional bulletproof glass has obvious advantages.

3. Luminous medium

AlON ceramics are suitable for luminescent materials because of their wide band gap, low photon energy and high temperature stability. Upconversion luminescence materials have been used in many fields, such as all-solid-state compact laser devices, upconversion phosphor, three-dimensional display, optical fiber communication technology, optical information storage and display, etc.

4. Bulletproof car

The weight of bulletproof vehicle is much more than that of ordinary cars, but for the requirements of control flexibility, more and more materials with anti-elasticity and light weight are applied to the protective armor of bulletproof vehicles. Alumina nitride can achieve bulletproof requirements with thinner thickness and smaller weight.

5. New profile of electronic equipment

Electronic equipment as a consumer goods, its materials need to be updated to attract the attention of the melon eating masses, only the military special alumina material is a big gimmick. Abandon its gimmick, alumina nitride transparent ceramic excellent mechanical and optical properties, is also suitable for smart electronic equipment accessories. For example, the watch face of a smart watch, the touch screen of a mobile phone and so on. If the smart wearable device is equipped with the explosion-proof aluminum oxide, the roadside "professional screen change for 30 years" master will not be unemployed.

6. Other uses

AlON has excellent comprehensive performance and is widely used in many other fields. Due to its advantages of high hardness and durability, AlON is suitable for use in POS scanners in supermarkets and other retail stores.

Because of its outstanding chemical corrosion resistance, AlON can also be used in semiconductor production equipment, including plasma delivery tubes, wafer carriers, and process casings. AlON is not only a low-cost alternative to sapphire, but also an alternative to corrosion resistant quartz. Although AlON may have a higher acquisition cost than quartz, it has a relatively lower average cost due to its longer life in corrosive environments.