N vacancy,substitutional O,and Al defects in the bandgap of composition-tunable nonstoichiometric AlN powder

AlN powders are prepared by direct nitridation via Al liquid and vapor phases in mixed atmospheres of N2and NH3with different NH3/N2ratios. The reaction analysis reveals that NH3acts as catalyst for N2dissociation and the transportations of N, O, and Al in the liquid phase are different from those in the vapor phase. Accordingly, the products are Al-rich and composition-tunable nonstoichiometric AlN in which N, O, and Al content values change with nitridation atmosphere and temperature, leading to the variation of the relevant defect concentration. Therefore, the AlN powders exhibit prominent absorption bands around 5.30, 3.40, and 1.50 eV, which are tentatively assigned to VN, ONdonors, and AlNacceptor respectively. Furthermore, a new donor named [VN–ON] complex is predicted at 4.40 eV within the 5.90 eV bandgap. It is demonstrated that the optical spectra of nonstoichiometric AlN are preferable to the nominal stoichimometric one for the identification of the defects energy level.     

N vacancy,substitutional O,and AI defects in the bandgap of composition-tunable nonstoichiometric AIN powder

AlN powders are prepared by direct nitridation via Al liquid and vapor phases in mixed atmospheres of N2 and NH3 with different NH3/N2 ratios. The reaction analysis reveals that NH3 acts as catalyst for N2 dissociation and the transportations of N, O, and Al in the liquid phase are different from those in the vapor phase. Accordingly, the products are Al-rich and composition-tunable nonstoichiometric AlN in which N, O, and Al content values change with nitridation atmosphere and temperature, leading to the variation of the relevant defect concentration. Therefore, the AlN powders exhibit prominent absorption bands around 5.30, 3.40, and 1.50 eV, which are tentatively assigned to VN, ON donors, and AlN acceptor respectively. Furthermore, a new donor named [VN-ON] complex is predicted at 4.40 eV within the 5.90 eV bandgap. It is demonstrated that the optical spectra of nonstoichiometric AlN are preferable to the nominal stoichimometric one for the identification of the defects energy level.