Lattice parameters, density and thermal expansion of InN microcrystals grown by the reaction of nitrogen plasma with liquid indium

Abstract

InN crystals of size up to 50 μm were synthesized using a microwave plasma source of nitrogen. The InN powder of wurtzite-type structure obtained was characterized by X-ray diffraction. Lattice parameters were measured in the temperature range 100–673 K. The average room-temperature lattice parameters of three of the samples studied at 296(±3)K are a = 3.5374(1)Å, c = 5.7027(5)Å. The calculated density is 6.923 ± 0.003g cm⁻³. The thermal expansion coefficients in the temperature range investigated are a _a = 3.6(2) × 10⁻⁶K⁻¹ and a _c = 2.6(3) × 10⁻⁶K⁻¹.