Cubic Boron Nitride Crystals Grown at High Pressure: PN Junction, Crystallographic Polarity and Some Properties

Abstract

ABSTRACTStudies on the cubic boron nitride (cBN) crystals grown by the temperature difference method at high pressure are reviewed. The electron beam induced current measurement, the electrical measurement, and the optical measurement demonstrated that the cBN is a good potential candidate as a wide-gap semiconductor material. The Raman spectrum and the reflectance and transmittance spectra of the cBN were obtained. The crys-tallographic polarity of cBN crystals was directly determined from the Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS).The RBS experiment showed that the (111) surface which adjoins to the (100) surface at an obtuse angle so that the edge between the (111) and the (100) is parallel to the <110> direction of striations on the (100) face is a triply bonded nitrogen-terminating face. The result seems to disagree with that derived from other semiconductor compounds.