Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis of Aluminum Nitride and its Characterization

Abstract

Aluminum nitride was synthesized by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) with flaky aluminum powder in various conditions such as particle size, nitrogen pressure (PN 2), dilution factor f( Dil</sub), packing density, and bulk sample size. AlN content in the SHS product increases with an increase of fDil, and it eventually reaches about 95 % at fDil=0.6. Generally, reaction front velocity is significantly affected by PN2 and packing density, but not by fDil. The degree of AlN conversion reduces more or less with an increase of bulk sample size, but that could be improved by using the SHS pre-prepared product as a diluent.