| abstract |
One of the aspects of the present invention relates to a silicon nitride-based sintered body that includes silicon nitride-based particles which are SiAlON particles or silicon nitride particles. In this silicon nitride-based sintered body, when the size of individual silicon nitride-based particles is represented by the maximum particle size of each particle, silicon nitride-based particles having a maximum particle size of 1 μm or less accounts for 70% by number or more among the total number of silicon nitride-based particles. Furthermore, in the percentage-by-number distribution of the silicon nitride-based particles regarding the maximum particle size, the maximum percentage by number, which represents a maximum value of the percentage by number of the silicon nitride-based particles, is 15% by number or more. |