Covalent High-Performance Ceramics

Non‐oxide ceramics, for example aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, and silicon nitride, are ideal materials for applications under high thermal and mechanical stress. The synthetic methods including liquid‐phase sintering processes, the microstructures of the resulting materials (figure shows Si3N4 from powder produced using the diimide route), and some aspects of the characteization and application of the materials are discussed.