Surface-coated sintered body of silicon nitride

摘要

A surface-coated sintered body of silicon nitride wherein a coating layer on the surface comprises a crystalline phase of RE2Si2O7 and/or RE2SiO5 (RE=rare earth element), the crystalline phase having an average crystalline particle diameter of not smaller than 0.1 mum, and the excess amount of SiO2 contained in the coating layer being not larger than 10 mole %. The coating layer formed on the surfaces of the sintered body exhibits excellent adhering force even in a high-temperature zone of around 1500° C. and features a long life.