Natural growth habit of bulk AlN crystals

Abstract

Growth conditions for self-nucleation and subsequent growth of bulk AlN crystals by sublimation are presented. With increasing growth temperature, the natural habit of AlN crystals changes from needle-like to prismatic and then turns to thick asymmetric platelet. The best-formed platelet crystals up to 14×7×2 mm 3 in size exhibit a number of atomically smooth surfaces. Growth morphology and crystal quality were found to be strongly influenced by the polar nature of AlN. Al-terminated faces produce mirror-like facets and transparent material of high crystalline quality, whereas development of N-terminated faces leads to opaque and defective sectors in grown crystals. It is suggested that the most successful seeded growth of AlN can be achieved along Al-terminated (0 0 0 1) , ( 1 ̄ 0 1 2) and non-polar ( 1 ̄ 0 1 0) faces.