nitride (AlN) is manufactured by direct nitriding or reductive nitriding of a homogeneous mixture of aluminum oxide or aluminum hydroxide and finely divided carbon, or a compound which releases carbon upon thermal cracking under a nitrogen atmosphere.



Other processes via the gas phase have not yet got beyond the development phase.

The produced by these processes has to be further processed by grinding under moisture-free conditions, without introducing impurities.

The main application sector for aluminum nitride is as substrates for the electronic industry, where aluminum nitride is replacing aluminum oxide to an increasing extent in highly integrated systems due to its significantly higher thermal conductivity. Other application fields are evaporation boats, metallization supports and in aluminum processing technology.

150 t/a were produced worldwide in 1995 by 7 companies. Demand is only growing slowly. Only a small part of its worldwide manufacturing capacity is utilized.