1. Low temperature sintering of SiC : a- and b-SiC powders were sintered with addition of Al-B-C compounds such as AlB2, Al4C3 and B4C. The powders could be densified at around 1950-2000oC, while the conventional methods sintered SiC powders at 2150oC. The low temperature sintering can be realized by the Al-B-C additives (Fig. 1).

2. Sintering of Si3N4 by rapid heating :Sintering  of silicon nitride powder was investigated using rapid heating.  Grain growth rate of b submicron powder was higher than that of a powder with same particle size distribution.

3.a-sialon phosphor:  Sialon@materials  have  been found to exhibit light emitting property. Co-doping of Ca was effective for stabilizing Ce-a-sialon. Using co-doping method, new Ca-a-sialon:Ce phosphor with white blue emission was developed(Fig.2).

4. UV emitting BN: The sp3-bonded 5H-BN was successfully synthesized for the first time. 5H-BN emits UV light at 225nm at room temperatures.

ƒeƒLƒXƒg ƒ{ƒbƒNƒX: Fig.1 Densification of a- and b-SiC with AlB2 addition. Fig.2 Photoluminescence spectra of Ca/Ce-doped a -sialon ceramicsD