Controllable synthesis of AlN nanostructures and their photoluminescenceElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7ce01335c

• Main Authors: Shen, Longhai, Lv, Wei, Wang, Nan, Wu, Lijun, Qi, Dongli, Ma, Yuantai, Lei, Weiwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 09.10.2017
• ISSN: 1466-8033
• DOI: 10.1039/c7ce01335c

AlN nanostructures with controllable morphologies are synthesized on a Si substrate with an Al particle layer as a self-catalyst via a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique under atmospheric pressure. The effects of temperature, NH 3 flow and the gas entrance procedure on the morphologies are investigated. Especially, among these nanostructures, the AlN nanowhiskers exhibit a high aspect ratio, which is about one order of magnitude larger than that of other AlN nanostructures. A mechanism for controlled morphology is proposed based on the self-catalyzed nucleation and the diffusion process of Al adatoms on the surface under different reaction conditions (either Al-rich or N-rich). Moreover, the AlN nanostructures exhibit intense photoluminescence and this can be tuned through the size and morphology of the nanostructures. AlN nanostructures with controllable morphologies are synthesized on a Si substrate with an Al particle layer as a self-catalyst via a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique under atmospheric pressure.