• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.127-134
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• 2015

Aluminum nitride (AlN) single crystals have attracted much attention for a next-generation semiconductor application because of wide bandgap (6.2 eV), high thermal conductivity ($285W/m{\cdot}K$), high electrical resistivity (${\geq}10^{14}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$), and high mechanical strength. The bulk AlN single crystals or thin film templates have been mainly grown by PVT (sublimation) method, flux method, solution growth method, and hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) method. Since AlN suffers difficulty in commercialization due to the defects that occur during single crystal growth, crystalline quality improvement via defects analyses is necessary. Etch pit density (EPD) analysis showed that the growth misorientations and the defects in the AlN surface exist. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) analyses were employed to investigate the overall crystalline quality and various kinds of defects. TEM studies show that the morphology of the AlN is clearly influenced by stacking fault, dislocation, second phase, etc. In addition EBSD analysis also showed that the zinc blende polymorph of AlN exists as a growth defects resulting in dislocation initiator.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.409-416
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• 2015

ICP-AES has been used in many laboratories due to the advantages of wide calibration range and multi-element analysis, but it may give erroneous results and suffer from spectral interference due to the large number of emission lines associated with each element. In this study, certified reference materials (CRMs) and field samples were analyzed by ICP-AES and HG-AAS according to the official Korean testing method for soil pollution to investigate analytical problems. The applicability of HG-ICP-AES was also tested as an alternative method. HG-AAS showed good accuracies (90.8~106.3%) in all CRMs, while ICP-AES deviated from the desired range in CRMs with low arsenic and high Fe/Al. The accuracy in CRM030 was estimated as below 39% at the wavelength of 193.696 nm by ICP-AES. Significant partial overlaps and sloping background interferences were observed near to 193.696 nm with the presence of 50 mg/L Fe and Al. Most CRMs were quantified with few or no interferences of Fe and Al at 188.980 nm. ICP-AES properly assessed low and high level arsenic for field samples, at 188.980 nm and 193.696 nm, respectively. The importance of the choice of measurement wavelengths corresponding to relative arsenic level should be noted. Because interferences were affected by the sample matrix, operation conditions and instrument figures, the analysts were required to consider spectral interferences and compare the analytical performance of the recommended wavelengths. HG-ICP-AES was evaluated as a suitable alternative method for ICP-AES due to improvement of the detection limit, wide calibration ranges, and reduced spectral interferences by HG.