III-Nitride materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and indium nitride (InN) are critical for applications in electronics and optoelectronics due to their exceptional properties. However, their high-temperature stability is often limited by decomposition into constituent elements at low nitrogen pressures near or below ambient. This work investigates the use of nonequilibrium nitrogen plasma to stabilize GaN and InN at elevated temperatures and low pressures. Bulk nitride synthesis was demonstrated via plasma-assisted nitridation of Ga and In metals. Following synthesis, the suppression of nitride decomposition at temperatures exceeding the predicted equilibrium limits was accomplished by means of a nonequilibrium nitrogen plasma. Experimental results revealed that the nonequilibrium plasma imparted an additional chemical potential onto the ground state nitrogen by electron impact excitation, stabilizing GaN at 1000 °C and InN at 600 °C for nitrogen partial pressures as low as 10 Pa. With this experimental approach, the chemical potential of excited nitrogen species in the plasma was estimated to be 1.8 eV higher than the ground state value. These findings highlight the potential for plasma-based processing to enable scalable synthesis and stabilization of III-nitrides at high temperatures for advanced material applications.
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14 April 2025
Research Article|
April 15 2025
Stabilization of III-nitrides at high temperatures using nitrogen plasma
Dillon Moher
;
Dillon Moher
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft)
1
Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
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Reilly Shanahan
;
Reilly Shanahan
(Investigation, Methodology)
1
Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
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Elijah Thimsen
Elijah Thimsen
a)
(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
2
Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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Dillon Moher
1
Reilly Shanahan
1
Elijah Thimsen
1,2,a)
1
Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
2
Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Lett. 126, 151903 (2025)
Article history
Received:
January 13 2025
Accepted:
April 03 2025
Citation
Dillon Moher, Reilly Shanahan, Elijah Thimsen; Stabilization of III-nitrides at high temperatures using nitrogen plasma. Appl. Phys. Lett. 14 April 2025; 126 (15): 151903. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0257926
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