Patent ID: 7462238

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a group III metal nitride crystal using a crystal growth apparatus, said crystal growth apparatus comprising: a reaction vessel holding a melt mixture containing an alkali metal and a group III metal in a vessel space thereof; and a porous member provided in a path through which a vapor of said alkali metal in contact with said metal mixture in said vessel space escapes to an external space, said porous member holding a metal melt by a surface tension thereof, said porous member further supplying through said reaction vessel a nitrogen source gas fed from outside said reaction vessel by a pressure difference formed between said vessel space in said reaction vessel and said external space, said method comprising: (i) loading said alkali metal and said group III metal in said reaction vessel in an ambient of an inert gas or a nitrogen gas; (ii) filling said vessel space with said nitrogen source gas; (iii) heating said reaction vessel to a crystal growth temperature; (iv) holding said reaction vessel at said crystal growth temperature for a predetermined interval; and (v) supplying said nitrogen source gas to said reaction vessel through said porous member so that a pressure of said vessel space is maintained at a predetermined pressure.