Synthesis of Double-Walled Boron Nitride Nanotubes from Ammonia Borane by Thermal Plasma Methods.

Highly crystalline double-walled boron nitride nanotubes (DWBNNTs ∼60%) were synthesized from ammonia borane (AB; H3B-NH3) precursors using a high-temperature thermal plasma method. The differences between the synthesized BNNTs using the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) precursor and AB precursor were compared using various techniques such as thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and in situ optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The synthesized BNNTs were longer and had fewer walls when the AB precursor was used than when the conventional method was used (with the h-BN precursor). The production rate significantly improved from ∼20 g/h (h-BN precursor) to ∼50 g/h (AB precursor), and the content of amorphous boron impurities was significantly reduced, implying a self-assembly mechanism of BN radicals rather than the conventional mechanism involving boron nanoballs. Through this mechanism, the BNNT growth, which was accompanied by an increased length, a decreased diameter, and a high growth rate, could be understood. The findings were also supported by in situ OES data. Considering the increased production yield, this synthesis method using AB precursors is expected to make an innovative contribution to the commercialization of BNNTs.

Single nanowire light-emitting diodes using uniaxial and coaxial InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells synthesized by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition.

We report the controlled synthesis of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) uniaxial (c-plane) and coaxial (m-plane) nanowire (NW) heterostructures by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Two kinds of heterostructure NW light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been fabricated: (1) 10 pairs of InGaN/GaN MQW layers in the c-plane on the top of n-GaN NWs where Mg-doped p-GaN NW is axially grown (2) p-GaN/10 pairs of InGaN/GaN shell structure were surrounded by n-GaN core. Here, we discuss a comparative analysis based on the m-plane and the c-plane oriented InGaN/GaN MQW NW arrays. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that the barrier and the well structures of MQW were observed to be substantially clear with regular intervals while the interface regions were extremely sharp. The c-plane and m-plane oriented MQW single NW was utilized for the parallel assembly fabrication of the LEDs via a focused ion beam. The polarization induced effects on the c-plane and m-plane oriented MQW NWs were precisely compared via power dependence electroluminescence. The electrical properties of m-plane NWs exhibited superior characteristics than that of c-plane NWs owing to the absence of piezoelectric polarization fields. According to this study, high-quality m-plane coaxial NWs can be utilized for the realization of high-brightness LEDs.