Recycling of the used abrasive powder of SiC by the heat treatment under controlled atmosphere

Abstract

The used SiC powder was heat-treated in N₂ atmosphere in order to recycle the powder after the abrasion of silicon wafer. XRD analysis showed that crystalline Si disappeared by heating the used powder in N₂ atmosphere. The formation of Si-N whiskers was confirmed by SEM-EDS observation. These results suggested that the used SiC powder could be converted into the Si-N whiskers containing SiC powder for sintering.