Neutron powder diffraction study of Y-sialon with La2O3 or Nd2O3 addition

Neutron diffraction data of α-sialon and complementary phases were collected on the neutron powder diffraction (NPD) diffractometer installed in the NFL Studsvik, at a wavelength of 1.470 A. Calculations were carried out by using the FullProf 2000 utilizing the crystal structure of the yttrium α-sialon phase. Selected profile and structure parameters were refined in the calculations. The calculated data showed that either La or Nd were also present in the α-sialon crystal structure in the presence of Y. The comparison of the present phases' weight contents, which were determined by the qualitative phase analysis between NPD and X-ray diffraction data, was carried out.