Growth of large, high quality hexagonal boron nitride crystals for electronic, optoelectronic, and nanophotonic device applications
Abstract
Publicly Releasable Project Summary/AbstractA new system will be acquired to investigate the crystal growth of large area (100 mm d iameter), thick (>1 mm) hexagonal boron nitride single crystals. Such crystals would enable tremendous advances in electronics, opto electronics, photonics, quantum information processing, neutron detection, optical components, and chemical and isotope separations. The crystals will be grown by precipitation from molten metal solutions based on nickel, iron, and chromium at atmospheric pressure . The crystals produced by this technique are excellent quality, matching or exceeding any reported in the literature.The system to be acquired is large enough (150 inches in diameter and 250 mm high) to hold multiple crucibles. This will enable the simultaneous growth of several large single crystals.This will dramatically increase the amount of high quality hBN crystals available to resea rchers in the United States and around the world. Furthermore, it will greatly expand the types of device that can be produced; devi ces will no longer be limited to a few tens of square microns. Other specifications include a low base pressure (helpful for removin g residual) oxygen, a maximum temperature of 1600 C, and control for two process gases. This furnace will also support and enhance ongoing research on hBN crystal growth examining the factors that influence nucleation, growth, and purity of the material. The lar ger area of this furnace will allow other factors to be examined besides the residual impurities, such as the surface tension of the solvent on the nucleation density and crystal size. The research is examining how to maximize the crystal area and/or thickness, th rough the choice of solvents and and boron and nitrogen sources. hBN crystals with controlled concentrations of borons two isotopes , 10B and 11B, will be produced, for studying their properties and enhancing their applications for photonics, thermal management, a nd radiation detection.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112939
Entities
People
- James H Edgar
Organizations
- Kansas State University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy