Synthesis of AlN Grains and Liquid-Phase-Epitaxy (LPE) Growth of AlN Films Using Sn-Ca Mixed Flux

Abstract
AlN grains were synthesized using a Sn-Ca alloy flux. Conditions under which AlN grains could be synthesized were investigated by varying the flux composition (Ca:Sn) and the ratio of Al to flux. The Sn-Ca mixed flux enabled us to synthesize AlN grains under the relatively mild conditions of 900°C and 5 atm. We also attempted homoepitaxial liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) growth on an AlN(0001) thin film grown on a sapphire(0001) substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and obtained 1.8-µm-thick-AlN film in the liquid phase.