Synthesis of AlN nanowires by nitridation of Ti₃Si_0.9Al_0.1C₂ solid solution

This paper describes a new method to synthesize AlN nanowires by the nitridation of Ti₃Si_0.9Al_0.1C₂ solid solution. Single-crystalline AlN nanowires with the hexagonal wurtzite structure can be easily prepared using this method. In particular, the resulting AlN nanowires display a new growth orientation of 〈1011〉 besides 〈1000〉 and 〈0001〉. This work indicates that M_N+1AX_N compounds are promising raw reactants to synthesize one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures of nitrides and oxides.