Facile method for the synthesis of zinc- or magnesium-doped gallium nitride powders from gallium metal

Abstract We describe a facile method for synthesizing high-purity Zn-doped and Mg-doped GaN powders from Ga metal in supercritical ammonia at a moderate reaction temperature using ZnX2 and MgX2 (X = F, Cl, Br, or I) as combined mineralizers and doping agents. Successful doping of Zn or Mg into the GaN matrix was indicated by characteristic bands in the photoluminescence spectra of the crystals at 10 K. The results suggest that the halide ion plays an important role in the transformation of Ga metal to GaN powder.