Short-range order in nanoscale amorphous intergranular films in liquid-phase sintered silicon carbide.

Short-range order in amorphous intergranular films in SiC hot pressed with Al, B, and C additives was recognized with autocorrelation processing of high-resolution electron microscopy images. The short-range order corresponds to Al–O–C tetrahedra formed near the SiC matrix grains. In situ heating high-resolution transmission electron microscopy study demonstrated that the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation in the amorphous Al–O–C intergranular films started from nucleation and local growth of the short-range order structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]