Synthesis and characterization of high purity, single phase GaN powder

Abstract

Synthesis of high-purity, single-phase gallium nitride (GaN) powder has been achieved by reacting molten Ga with flowing ammonia (NH 3 ) in a hot wall tube furnace. The optimum temperature, NH 3 flow rate, and position of the boat in the hot wall tube furnace relative to the NH 3 inlet for the complete reaction to pure GaN for our system were 975 °C, 400 standard cubic centimeters per minute (seem) and 50 cm, respectively. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) data revealed the GaN to be single phase with a = 3.1891 Å, c = 5.1855 Å, in space group P 6 3 mc , Z =2 and D x =6.089 g cm −3 . Scanning electron microscopy revealed a particle size distribution in the crushed material between 1 and 5 μ m with most of the particles being ≍1 μm.