Synthesis of nanoporous GaN crystalline particles by chemical vapor deposition

Nanoporous, micron-size GaN particles with pores between 40 and 100 nm in diameter have been synthesized on boron nitride (BN) substrates using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques. The synthesis process is based on the direct reaction of gallium atoms and ammonia molecules without the presence of intentional metal catalysts. Scanning electron micrographs reveal the formation of GaN nanoporous morphologies ranging from micron-size particles with hexagonal pyramidal prismatic shape to hexagonal platelets. The nanopores are only observed on the (0001) basal plane and aligned orderly along the [0001] crystallographic direction. High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) confirms that the nanoporous particles are, where analyzed, wurtzite GaN single crystal.