Thermoelectric (TE) nanocomposite material that includes at least one component consisting of nanocrystals. A TE nanocomposite material in accordance with the present invention can include, but is not limited to, multiple nanocrystalline structures, nanocrystal networks or partial networks, or multi-component materials, with some components forming connected interpenetrating networks including nanocrystalline networks. The TE nanocomposite material can be in the form of a bulk solid having semiconductor nanocrystallites that form an electrically conductive network within the material. In other embodiments, the TE nanocomposite material can be a nanocomposite thermoelectric material having one network of p-type or n-type semiconductor domains and a low thermal conductivity semiconductor or dielectric network or domains separating the p-type or n-type domains that provides efficient phonon scattering to reduce thermal conductivity while maintaining the electrical properties of the p-type or n-type semiconductor.

Provided are a sintered material having high corrosion resistance, a method of manufacturing the sintered material, a member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a method of manufacturing a member for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The sintered material according to an embodiment includes 50 mass% or more of yttrium oxyfluoride, has a relative density of 97.0% or more, and has a Vickers hardness of 5.0 GPa or more. The method of manufacturing a sintered material according to an embodiment includes forming a molded body including yttrium oxyfluoride powder having a particle size of 0.3 .Math.m or less, and sintering the molded body under an atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 800° C. or less.

A sputtering target which is made of a magnesium oxide sintered body having a purity of not less than 99.99% or not less than 99.995% by mass %, a relative density of not less than 98%, and an average grain size of not more than 8 μm. The average grain size of the sputtering target is preferably not more than 5 μm, more preferably not more than 2 μm. A sputtered film having an excellent insulation resistance and an excellent homogeneity can be obtained by using the sputtering target.

Disclosed herein are compounds, methods, and tools which comprise tungsten borides and mixed transition metal borides.

A method of forming a solid, dense, hermetic lithium-ion electrolyte membrane comprises combing an amorphous, glassy, or low melting temperature solid reactant with a refractory oxide reactant to form a mixture, casting the mixture to form a green body, and sintering the green body to form a solid membrane. The resulting electrolyte membranes can be incorporated into lithium-ion batteries.

A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a multilayer body in which a plurality of internal electrodes including Ni and a plurality of ceramic dielectric layers are alternately stacked, and external electrodes. The ceramic dielectric layer includes an inner dielectric layer located between internal electrodes, and an outer dielectric layer located outside in a stacking direction and including at least NiO. A difference between average grain sizes of dielectric grains of the outer dielectric layers and the inner dielectric layers is about 10% or less. A molar amount of NiO with respect to about 100 moles of Ti is larger by about 0.6 mole or more in the outer dielectric layer than in the inner dielectric layer.

A ceramic composite material and a method for producing same. The ceramic composite material has a ceramic matrix comprising zirconium oxide and at least one secondary phase dispersed therein. The matrix is composed of zirconium oxide as at least 51 vol.-% of composite material, and the secondary phase is in a proportion of 1 to 49 vol.-% of composite material, wherein 90 to 99% of the zirconium oxide is present in the tetragonal phase based on the total zirconium oxide portion. The tetragonal phase of the zirconium oxide is stabilized by at least one member selected from the group consisting of chemical stabilization and mechanical stabilization. The ceramic composite is damage-tolerant.

Provided are metal oxide ceramic materials and intermediate materials thereof (e.g., nanozirconia gels, nanozirconia green bodies, pre-sintered ceramic bodies, zirconia dental ceramic materials, and dental articles). The nanozirconia gels are formable gels. Also provided are methods of making and using the metal oxide materials and intermediate materials. The nanozirconia gels can be made using, for example, osmotic processing. The nanozirconia gels can be used to make nanozirconia green bodies, pre-sintered ceramic bodies, zirconia dental ceramic materials, and dental article. The nanozirconia green bodies, pre-sintered ceramic bodies, zirconia dental ceramic materials, and dental articles have desirable properties (e.g., optical properties and mechanical properties).

An oxide superconductor has a composition expressed by RE.sub.aBa.sub.bCu.sub.3O.sub.7-x, where RE represents one rare earth or a combination of two or more of a rare earth, a satisfies 1.05≦a≦1.35, b satisfies 1.80≦b≦2.05, and x represents an amount of oxygen deficiency, and a non-superconducting phase having an outer diameter of 30 nm or less is included in a superconducting phase.

A zirconia sintered body, where when cross-sectional area of each zirconia crystal-grain is calculated in image of cross section of zirconia sintered body, converted crystal-grain size of each zirconia crystal-grain is calculated based on cross-sectional area where each zirconia crystal-grain has circular cross-sectional shape, zirconia crystal-grains are classified into class of <0.4 μm, class of ≧0.4 and <0.76 μm, and class of ≧0.76 μm based on converted crystal-grain size, total cross-sectional area of zirconia crystal-grains is calculated in each of classes, and rate of cross-sectional area to total cross-sectional area of all zirconia crystal-grains whose cross-sectional area has been calculated is calculated in each class, rate of cross-sectional area of zirconia crystal-grains in class of <0.4 μm is 4% to 35%, rate of cross-sectional area of zirconia crystal-grains in class of ≧0.4 and <0.76 μm is 24% to 57%, and rate of cross-sectional area of zirconia crystal-grains in class of ≧0.76 μm-is 16% to 62%.