United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Solid State Scientific Corporation

Buguo Wang

Michael J Callahan

David F Bliss

John S Bailey

This invention provides a process for producing high-purity dense polycrystalline III-nitride slabs. A vessel which contains a group III-metal such as gallium or an alloy of group III-metals of shallow depth is placed in a reactor. The group III-metal or alloy is heated until a molten state is reached after which a halide-containing source mixed with a carrier gas and a nitrogen-containing source is flowed through the reactor vessel. An initial porous crust of III-nitride forms on the surface of the molten III-metal or alloy which reacts with the nitrogen-containing source and the halide-containing source. The flow rate of the nitrogen-containing source is then increased and flowed into contact with the molten metal to produce a dense polycrystalline III-nitride. The products produced from the inventive process can be used as source material for III-nitride single crystal growth which material is not available naturally.

Polycrystalline III-nitrides

A method of hydrothermally synthesizing sapphire single crystals doped with trivalent metal ions in a crystal-growth autoclave including a crystal-growth zone and nutrient-dissolution zone in fluid communication with the crystal-growth zone is provided. Implementations of the method including situating within the crystal-growth zone at least one sapphire-based seed crystal and situating within the nutrient-dissolution zone an aluminum-containing material to serve as nutrient. An acidic, trivalent-metal-ion-containing growth solution is introduced into the cavity in a quantity sufficient, at least when heated to a predetermined average temperature, to immerse the at least one seed crystal and the nutrient in the growth solution. The growth solution is selected such that sapphire exhibits retrograde solubility therein and the growth process is carried out while maintaining an interior-cavity pressure within a range between and including each of 3.5 kilopounds per square inch and 25 kilopounds per square inch and while maintaining a temperature differential between the crystal-growth and nutrient-dissolution zones such that the average temperature within the crystal-growth zone is higher than the average temperature within the nutrient-dissolution zone.

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Burlington, MA, United States of America

Buguo Wang