Aluminium nitride (AlN) powder has been produced through carbothermal
synthesis of alumina (Al2O3) powder acid carbon. TEM is used to identi
fy the nano-sized AlN grains that initiate on the surface of the Al2O3
grains during the first stage of the carbothermal synthesis cycle and
to characterize the final product. Magic Angle Spinning NMR is couple
d with TEM to identify the reaction sequence for the formation of the
AlN.