F. Porte et al., THERMOLUMINESCENCE OF ALUMINUM NITRIDE - INFLUENCE OF THE THERMAL-TREATMENT, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 17(15-16), 1997, pp. 1797-1802
Aluminium nitride powders are very sensitive to oxidation: nitrogen at
oms are easily substituted by oxygen atoms in the hexagonal structure.
Thermoluminescence (TL), in detecting defects in the matter can be us
ed to study oxygen impurities in the AlN lattice. So we tested two pow
ders with different synthesis processes and thermal treatments in orde
r to observe the influence of the oxygen content on the TL curves. Fir
st aluminium nitride synthesised with amines and aluminium halides rev
ealed the relation between the TL signal and crystallite size. the TL
intensity increased despite the removal of oxide phases and the decrea
se of oxygen content. Second, Pyrofine R AlN was treated under oxygen
flow for 3 h between 200 degrees and 1100 degrees C. The TL spectrum s
howed the presence of gamma-AlON at low temperature and the area of th
e TL peak (80 degrees C) increased with the weight ratio of AlN. Publi
shed by Elsevier Science Limited.