Aluminium nitride nanowire array films for nanomanufacturing applications

Abstract

The present paper presents a systematic investigation of both catalyst free and catalyst assisted AlN nanowire synthesis by chemical vapour deposition using Al and NH₃ as source materials. Growth runs have mostly been carried out at 1100°C under H₂ as carrier gas. While the catalyst free growth runs resulted in long (∼40 μm) and dense AlN nanowire array films, the catalyst assisted growth resulted in short nanowires (3–5 μm). Growth mechanisms have been presented. Raman spectroscopy of the catalyst free grown nanowires has revealed very symmetric and strong phonon modes [e.g. strong E₂ (high)] indicating very good crystal quality of the grown AlN nanowires. In brief, catalyst free growth eliminates catalyst contamination and produces high quality and density of long nanowires, which is very valuable for scale-up manufacturing opportunities of the AlN nanostructures.

Keywords:

• AlN nanowires
• Catalyst free growth
• Nanomanufacturing
• Flexible manufacturing

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully thanks the US Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for providing support for the present research. The present work was also supported by a Marie Curie FP7 Integration Grant within the 7th European Union Framework Programme. The author acknowledges the support of West Virginia University Shared Research Facilities.