초록
Aluminum nitride (AlN) is used by the semiconductor industry that has requirements for high thermal conductivity. The theoretical thermal conductivity of single crystal AlN is 320W/mK. Whereas, the values measured for polycrystalline AlN ceramics range from 20 W/mK to 280 W/mK. The variability is strongly dependent upon the purity of the starting materials and non-uniform dispersibility of the sintering additive. The conventional AlN sintering additive used yttria ($Y_2O_3$), but the dispersibility of the powder in the mixing process was important. In this study, we investigated the mechanical and thermal conductivity of yttrium nitrate ($Y(NO_3)_3{\cdot}6H_2O$), as a sintering additive in order to improve the dispersibility of $Y_2O_3$. The sintering additives content was in the range of 2 to 4.5wt.%. The density of AlN gradually increased with increasing contents of sintering additive and the flexural strength gradually increased as well. The flexural strength of the sintered body containing 4 wt% of $Y_2O_3$ and $Y(NO_3)_3{\cdot}6H_2O$ was 334.1 MPa and 378.2 MPa, respectively. The thermal conductivities were 189.7W/mK and 209.4W/mK, respectively. In the case of hardness, there was only a slight difference and the average value was about 10 GPa. Therefore, densification, density and strength values were found to be proportional to its content. It was confirmed that AlN using $Y(NO_3)_3{\cdot}6H_2O$ displayed relatively higher thermal conductivity and mechanical properties than the $Y_2O_3$.