Growth of nano- and microstructured indium nitride crystals by the reaction of indium oxide with ammonia

Abstract

Nano- and microstructured indium nitride crystals were synthesized by the reaction of indium oxide (In2O3) powder and its pellet with ammonia in the temperature range 580-700°C. The degree of nitridation of In2O3 to InN was very sensitive to the nitridation temperature. The formation of zero- to three-dimensional structured InN crystals demonstrated that In2O3 is nitridated to InN via two dominant parallel routes (solid (In2O3)-to-solid (InN) and gas (In2O)-to-solid (InN)). The growth of InN crystals with such various morphologies was explained by the vapor-solid (VS) mechanism where the degree of supersaturation of In vapor determines the growth morphology and the vapor was mainly by the reaction of In2O with ammonia and partially by sublimation of solid InN. The pellet method was proven to be useful to obtain homogeneous InN nanowires.