THERMOLUMINESCENCE OF ALUMINUM NITRIDE - INFLUENCE OF THE THERMAL-TREATMENT

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.