Study of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis of aluminium nitride using a laser monitor

Abstract This study focused on the synthesis of aluminium nitride (AlN) by combusting aluminium nanopowder in air. To investigate the combustion of aluminium nanopowder, a copper bromide laser monitor was used. The optical system equipped with brightness amplification allowed the elimination of the background lighting effect and enabled the high time-resolved recording of the process. In particular, the laser monitor enabled us to detect changes in the morphology and optical properties of the surface of the aluminium nanopowder sample as well as to observe the propagation of the combustion waves in spite of the intense background lighting during combustion. The main time parameters of the combustion of aluminium nanopowder in air were determined. To improve and facilitate the processing of laser monitored high-speed video recordings, we proposed to analyse the time dependence of the intensity of the output signal of the laser monitor. The dependence was used to successfully detect the occurrences of all combustion waves and describe their dynamics. The time dependence also favourably represented the evolution of the reflection coefficient of the combustion products of aluminium nanopowder. This is the first time that this property of aluminium nanopowder has been investigated. The reflection coefficient evolution coupled with video recordings of the sample surface development during the combustion of nanopowder could be used to control the combustion process.