Preparation of faceted TaN grains by heating Ta-containing oxides in BN crucible with Na

Single-crystal grains of TaN were synthesized by heating Ta2O5, FeTa2O6, or FeTaO4 in a BN crucible together with Na metal in an Ar atmosphere at 1100 °C. The BN crucible acted a solid source of nitrogen. Aggregates of columnar ε-TaN single crystals 10–150 μm in size were formed on the inner wall of the BN crucible when either Ta2O5 or FeTa2O6 was used. On the other hand, platelet-like single crystals of θ-TaN 1–50 μm in size were obtained from FeTaO4. The results of wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectrometry indicated that the compositions of the ε-TaN and θ-TaN crystals were close to the stoichiometric ideal.