Aluminum nitride is a material which can be used in semiconductor devices and is a very important III-V group compound. It has many outstanding features such as high thermal conductivity, low dielectric constant, wide band gap and good electronic properties. It also has excellent acoustic properties which makes it an attractive candidate for use in optoelectronic and microelectronic applications.
chemical formula for aluminum nitride
The IUPAC chemical formula for AlN is azanylidynealumane (AlN). It is an inorganic compound of aluminum and nitrogen which can be synthesized. It is a good choice for technical purposes and has a wide range of applications in the electrical, optical, chemical and biological fields.
Characteristics of Aluminum Nitride
It has a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure that is similar to zinc sulfide. The bonding between Al and N is tetrahedrally coordinated with four atoms per unit cell, where the N atoms are opposite in charge to those of the Al atoms.
A large band gap of
Aluminum nitride can be produced by several methods including plasma chemical synthesis, electrochemical synthesis, arc-diode oxidation and high-energy ball milling. The plasma synthesis method involves heating the Al powder under a DC arc plasma generator or high-frequency plasma generator until it melts and volatilizes. Then, it is reacted with nitrogen ions to form AlN powder. It has the advantage of less agglomeration and small particle size, but it is not suitable for industrial production. The arc-diode oxidation method is a more rapid and efficient procedure, but it requires high nitriding temperatures, which increases production costs.