Silicon alloy, alloy powder thereof, manufacturing apparatus, manufacturing process and sintered alloy thereof

1. A controlled combustion synthesis process comprising:

introducing, into a reaction container within an apparatus forming an enclosure, a starting material comprising a mixture including silicon powder, aluminum, and one or more substances from the group consisting of alumina and silica;

exhausting air from said apparatus;

supplying nitrogen to said apparatus from the exterior thereof by means of a nitrogen feed system including a gas pressure control valve;

detecting the internal pressure within said apparatus by means of a pressure sensor, and thereby determining the quantity of nitrogen in said apparatus;

initiating a reaction in said starting material by igniting said starting material, by means of at least one ignition system, when a predetermined quantity of nitrogen has been introduced into said apparatus as determined by said pressure sensor;

detecting the internal temperature of the reaction container by temperature detection means; and

controlling said reaction by:

regulating the pressure within said apparatus by introducing nitrogen into the reaction container and exhausting reactant gas therefrom by means of said pressure control valve in response to said pressure sensor;

controlling the temperature of said reaction container by regulating the flow of cooling water through a cooling system comprising a water-cooled jacket covering substantially the entire apparatus in response to the temperature as detected by said temperature detection means; and

controlling the temperature of said cooling plate by regulating the flow of cooling water through said cooling plate in response to the temperature as detected by said temperature detection means;

whereby combustion synthesis of a silicon alloy is carried out while maintaining the internal pressure within said apparatus and the temperature of said reaction container at specified values.

2. A process according to claim 1 , in which said mixture also includes at least one element from the group consisting of iron, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, manganese, titanium, yttrium, magnesium, calcium, zirconium, vanadium, boron, tungsten and cobalt.

3. A process according to claim 1 , in which the internal pressure within said apparatus is maintained at a pressure not exceeding 1 MPa, and the internal temperature of said reaction container is maintained at a temperature not exceeding 2000 degrees Celsius.

4. A process for manufacturing a silicon sintered alloy comprising:

making a combustion-synthesized silicon alloy by the process according to claim 1 ;

carrying out a hydrous compounding step which uses, as a raw material, a powdered combustion-synthesized silicon alloy made by the process of claim 1 , the grains of said powder including 30-70 weight silicon, 10-45 weight % nitrogen, 1-40 weight % aluminum and 1-40 weight % oxygen, and having diameters less than or equal to 1 micron;

forming the hydrous compounded powder into an intermediate product; carrying out a drying step to reduce the amount of the included water in said intermediate product to less than 1% by weight; and

a sintering step in which green bodies formed in the forming and drying steps are heated, by millimeter waves at a frequency of at least 15 GHz, to a temperature within the range from 1300 to 1900 degrees Celsius for a time period in the range from 30 minutes to 3 hours, within a nitrogen atmosphere held to a pressure at least as high as atmospheric pressure.