Acidic ammonothermal growth of GaN crystals using GaN powder as a nutrient

Quanxi Bao; Takanori Hashimoto; Fukuma Sato; Kouji Hazu; Makoto Saito; Yuji Kagamitani; Takayuki Ishinabe; Rinzo Kayano; Daisuke Tomida; Kun Qiao; Shigefusa F. Chichibu; Tohru Ishiguro; Chiaki Yokoyama

doi:10.1039/C3CE40448J

Acidic ammonothermal growth of GaN crystals using GaN powder as a nutrient†

Quanxi Bao,^ac Takanori Hashimoto,^a Fukuma Sato,^a Kouji Hazu,^a Makoto Saito,^ab Yuji Kagamitani,^b Takayuki Ishinabe,^b Rinzo Kayano,^c Daisuke Tomida,^a Kun Qiao,*^a Shigefusa F. Chichibu,^a Tohru Ishiguro^a and Chiaki Yokoyama^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
E-mail: kunqiao@tagen.tohoku.ac.jp
Fax: +81 022 217 5647
Tel: +81 022 217 5647

^b Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., 1000 Higashi-Mamiana, Ushiku, Ibaraki 300-1295, Japan

^c The Japan Steel Works, Ltd., 11-1, Osaki 1-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032, Japan

Abstract

Ammonothermal crystal growth of gallium nitride (GaN) was realized for the first time using GaN powder as a nutrient with growth rates of about 61 μm per day on both Ga and N faces. The GaN powder was synthesized by ammonolysis of Ga metal in the presence of NH₄I. The crystal quality of the as-grown GaN wafers was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray rocking curve (XRC) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. We examined the effect of different nutrients, including polycrystalline GaN, Ga metal, and GaN powder, on the acidic ammonothermal crystal growth of GaN using an NH₄I-based mineralizer. Our results suggest that growth rate and crystal quality of GaN depend largely on the type of nutrient. Polycrystalline GaN as a nutrient can afford high growth rates of up to 150 and 237 μm per day on Ga and N faces, respectively. Growth rates up of to 33 μm per day were achieved using Ga metal as a nutrient. However, SEM, XRC, and PL measurements of GaN crystals grown using different nutrients indicate that Ga metal and GaN powder nutrients can provide better crystal quality of GaN in terms of surface morphology and crystal uniformity than polycrystalline GaN.

CrystEngComm

Acidic ammonothermal growth of GaN crystals using GaN powder as a nutrient†

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Acidic ammonothermal growth of GaN crystals using GaN powder as a nutrient

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