Oriented Growth of cBN Crystals Along [100] Direction in Hydrothermal Conditions

Abstract

Controlling the shape of cBN has been met with limited success. This work mainly reports a hydrothermal route to synthesize cBN nanocubes with oriented growth along [100] direction. XRD, TEM and SEM are applied to characterize the structure properties. Regular cubes of cBN have perfect quality and good uniformity. The square symmetry illuminates that cBN cube is a single crystal bounded mainly by the less stable {100} facets. This special morphology is determined by the ratio(R) between the growth rates along [100] and [111] direction.