A method of manufacturing ceramic tape includes a step of directing a tape of partially-sintered ceramic into a furnace. The tape is partially-sintered such that grains of the ceramic are fused to one another yet the tape still includes at least 10% porosity by volume, where the porosity refers to volume of the tape unoccupied by the ceramic. The method further includes steps of conveying the tape through the furnace and further sintering the tape as the tape is conveyed through the furnace. The porosity of the tape decreases during the further sintering step.

Aspects include a method for treating a polycrystalline material, the method comprising: exposing a surface of the polycrystalline material to a plasma thereby changing the surface of the polycrystalline material from being characterized by a starting condition to being characterized by a treated condition; wherein: the surface comprises a plurality of crystallites each having the composition MB.sub.6, M being a metal element; the plasma comprises ions, the ions being characterized by an average ion flux selected from the range of 1.5 to 100 A/cm.sup.2 and an average ion energy that is less than a sputtering threshold energy; the starting condition of the surface is characterized by a first average work function and the treated condition of the surface is characterized by a second average work function; and the second average work function is less than the first average work function.

A three-dimensional shaped article production method for producing a three-dimensional shaped article by stacking layers to form a stacked body includes a first layer formation step of forming a first layer on a support by supplying a first composition containing first particles and a binder, a second layer formation step of forming a second layer composed of one layer or a plurality of layers on the first layer by supplying a second composition containing second particles and a binder, and a separation step of separating the second layer from the support through the first layer, wherein after the separation step, a sintering step of sintering the second layer is performed.

A sintered body includes a crystal grain containing silicon nitride, and a grain boundary phase. If dielectric losses of the sintered body are measured while applying an alternating voltage to the sintered body and continuously changing a frequency of the alternating voltage from 50 Hz to 1 MHz, an average value ε.sub.A of dielectric losses of the sintered body in a frequency band from 800 kHz to 1 MHz and an average value ε.sub.B of dielectric losses of the sintered body in a frequency band from 100 Hz to 200 Hz satisfy an expression |ε.sub.A−ε.sub.B|≤0.1.

A wafer boat according to the present disclosure includes a plurality of support columns, each having a pillar shape and comprising a plurality of grooves configured to have a wafer placed thereon, and support plates configured to support both end portions of the plurality of support columns, respectively. Each of the plurality of support columns are formed of a ceramic containing aluminum oxide or silicon carbide as a main constituent, and an outer side surface of the plurality of support columns is a ground surface and/or a polished surface.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a plasma-resistant member including: a base member; and a layer structural component formed at a surface of the base member, the layer structural component including an yttria polycrystalline body and being plasma resistant, the layer structural component including a first uneven structure, and a second uneven structure formed to be superimposed onto the first uneven structure, the second uneven structure having an unevenness finer than an unevenness of the first uneven structure.

Proppant particles formed from slurry droplets and methods of use are disclosed herein. The proppant particles can include a sintered ceramic material and can have a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh and an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns. The methods of use can include injecting a hydraulic fluid into a subterranean formation at a rate and pressure sufficient to open a fracture therein and injecting a fluid containing a proppant particle into the fracture, the proppant particle including a sintered ceramic material, a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh, and an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns.

A ceramic sputtering target, wherein when a cross-sectional structure of a sputtering surface is observed with an electron microscope, an amount of microcracks defined below is 50 μm/mm or less, and after performing a peel test on the sputtering surface, an area ratio of peeled particles confirmed by observing the cross-sectional structure with an electron microscope is 1.0% or less.

Amount of microcracks=frequency of microcracks×average depth of microcracks

The present invention relates to a ferrite particle containing a crystal phase component containing a perovskite crystal represented by a compositional formula: RZrO.sub.3 (provided that R represents an alkaline earth metal element), having a surface roughness Rz of 0.8 .Math.m or more and 3.5 .Math.m or less, and having a standard deviation Rzσ of the surface roughness Rz falling in a range represented by the following formula 0.15 × Rz ≤ Rzσ ≤ 0.60 × Rz. The ferrite particle can be used as an electrophotographic developer carrier core material. In addition, an electrophotographic developer carrier and an electrophotographic developer can be obtained.

Provided is a boron nitride sintered body having a porous structure, the boron nitride sintered body including a lump particle formed by aggregation of primary particles of boron nitride and having a particle diameter of 15 μm or more. Provided is a method for manufacturing a boron nitride sintered body, the method including: a nitriding step of firing a raw material powder containing boron carbide in an atmosphere containing nitrogen to obtain a fired product including lump particles each having a core part with primary particles of boron carbonitride aggregated and a shell part surrounding the core part; and a firing step of molding and heating a blend containing the fired product including lump particles and a sintering aid to obtain the boron nitride sintered body having a porous structure and including lump particles of boron nitride.