Carbon-assisted growth of equiangular 2D hexagons of AlN

This paper describes a promising approach to synthesize equiangular 2D hexagons of AlN by carbon-assisted combustion of Al-0.1AlF3 mixture in a nitrogen atmosphere. Two-dimensional hexagons with thicknesses ranging from 0.05 to 5 μm and lateral sizes ranging from 0.5 to 150 μm are successfully produced at the 1800–1950 °C temperature range. It was shown that the formation of 2D hexagons occurs through carbonaceous phases of aluminum involving aluminum carbide (Al4C3) and carbonitrides (AlCxN1-x).