Synthesis of β-GaN nanocrystals with a cubic structure by gas-phase chemical reaction

β-GaN nanocrystalline have been successfully synthesized from the nitridation of GaP nanocrystalline at low temperatures by gas-phase chemical reaction. The starting GaP nanocrystalline has a large specific surface and a high reactivity that can reduce remarkably the difficulty of nitridation. The results of GaP nanocrystalline in N₂ at different heating rates support the fact that β-GaN nanocrystalline can form in GaP nanocrystalline via N-P metathesis gas-phase chemical mechanism. The mechanism is different when different heating rate was used. This method is very simple and is used generally to synthesize β-GaN nanoparticles or nanorods.