Synthesis of nanocrystalline GaN from Ga2O3 nanoparticles derived from salt-assisted spray pyrolysis

Gallium nitride (GaN) nanoparticles were successfully produced from nano-sized gallium oxide (Ga2O3) particles under a flow of ammonia gas. The gallium oxide nanoparticles were prepared by salt-assisted spray pyrolysis (SASP). Highly crystalline Ga2O3 nanoparticles with an average diameter of approximately 10 nm were obtained at various temperatures when a flux salt (LiCl, 5 mol/l) was added to the precursor solution. The effects of the crystallinity of the Ga2O3 particles and nitridation time on transformation to GaN were characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning/transmission electron microscopy. Highly crystalline GaN nanoparticles with a mean size of 23.4 nm and a geometric standard deviation of 1.68 nm were obtained when Ga2O3 nanoparticles with relatively low crystallinity were used as the starting material. The resulting GaN nanoparticles showed a photoluminescence peak at 364 nm under UV excitation at 254 nm.