Optical properties of β-Si3N4 single crystals grown from a Si melt in N2

Large colored β-Si3N4 single crystals were successfully grown from a Si melt in N2. The transmission optical absorption of coloring β-Si3N4 single crystal shows that impurities introduce a midgap level of ∼2.4 eV into the wide band gap of ∼5.3 eV in nondoped Si3N4. The infrared transmission spectrum and electron probe x-ray microanalysis of β-Si3N4 samples show that the solution of the Al element affects the silicon–nitrogen molecular vibration and the states within the band gap of β-Si3N4. The obtained results mean that the Al impurity acts as the radiative center and is the origin of the color in the β-Si3N4 single crystal.