Bulk Growth of Aluminum Nitride

The primary goal of Phase II will be to scale up the size of AlN single crystals and begin pilot production of crystals up to 2 inches in diameter using Cermet's physical vapor transport method. Cermet will employ a novel, proprietary crucible techniqueto allow the production of Al and AlN vapor with no contamination from the crucible. The vapor will then be deposited onto a seed in a nitrogen containing atmosphere in the form of AlN. Crystals will be characterized using x-ray diffraction and electronmicroscopy. This technique will provide BMDO with a source of high quality single crystal AlN wafers.This technology will provide a source for AlN single crystal wafers, which will be used in the fabrication of GaN laser diodes, high power nitridetransistors, nitride blue and white light emitting diodes, and nitride photodetectors.