Preparation of lutetium nitride by direct nitridation

摘要

Lutetium nitride (LuN), an end member of a new quaternary system Si_3N_4-SiO_2-Lu_2O_3-LuN, was synthesized by direct nitridation of a lutetium metal. The nitridation extent of the lutetium ingot (10 X 5 X 2 mm) reached about 97 percent by heating at 1600 deg C for 8 h with an applied N_2 pressure of 0.92 MPa; the initial shape of the bulk metal was maintained in the course of nitridation. The resulting nitrided lutetium possessed a moderately low oxygen content (-0.7 wt percent), which enables the preparation of uncharacterized high nitrogen-containing phases in the Lu-Si-O-N system.