Bulk single crystal of aluminum nitride (AlN) having an areal planar defect density≦100 cm.sup.−2. Methods for growing single crystal aluminum nitride include melting an aluminum foil to uniformly wet a foundation with a layer of aluminum, the foundation forming a portion of an AlN seed holder, for an AlN seed to be used for the AlN growth. The holder may consist essentially of a substantially impervious backing plate.

Methods of forming a crystalline strontium titanate layer may include providing a substrate with a crystal enhancement surface (e.g., Pt), depositing strontium titanate by atomic layer deposition, and conducting a post-deposition anneal to crystallize the strontium titanate. Large single crystal domains may be formed, laterally extending greater distances than the thickness of the strontium titanate and demonstrating greater ordering than the underlying crystal enhancement surface provided to initiate ALD. Functional oxides, particularly perovskite complex oxides, can be heteroepitaxially deposited over the crystallized STO.

A Group III nitride substrate contains a base material part of a Group III nitride having a front surface and a back surface, the front surface of the base material part and the back surface of the base material part having different Mg concentrations from each other.

A silicon carbide powder which, when used as a raw material in a sublimation recrystallization method, enables improvement in productivity of a silicon carbide single crystal by exhibiting a high sublimation rate and allowing a small amount of silicon carbide to remain without being sublimated, and enables an increase in size of the silicon carbide single crystal (for example, a single crystal wafer). The silicon carbide powder has a Blaine specific surface area of from 250 cm.sup.2/g to 1,000 cm.sup.2/g and a ratio of a silicon carbide powder having a particle size of more than 0.70 mm and 3.00 mm or less of 50 vol % or more with respect to a total amount of the silicon carbide powder. When a silicon carbide powder accommodated in a crucible is heated to be sublimated, a silicon carbide single crystal is formed on a seed crystal provided on an undersurface of a lid.

A deposition device for providing a thin film on a substrate. The device comprises a material source for providing at least one first metallic element which does not re-evaporate substantially from the substrate under particular growth conditions, at least one second metallic element or metal based molecule which does re-evaporate substantially from the substrate under the same growth conditions, and a component suitable for forming an at least one first compound with the at least one first metallic element and an at least one second compound with the at least one second metallic element or metal based molecule. The device comprises a controller configured to control the growth conditions, and the amounts of the at least one first metallic element, the at least one second metallic element or metal based molecule, and the component so as to obtain a substantially stoichiometric thin film.

A deposition device for providing a thin film on a substrate. The device comprises a material source for providing at least one first metallic element which does not re-evaporate substantially from the substrate under particular growth conditions, at least one second metallic element or metal based molecule which does re-evaporate substantially from the substrate under the same growth conditions, and a component suitable for forming an at least one first compound with the at least one first metallic element and an at least one second compound with the at least one second metallic element or metal based molecule. The device comprises a controller configured to control the growth conditions, and the amounts of the at least one first metallic element, the at least one second metallic element or metal based molecule, and the component so as to obtain a substantially stoichiometric thin film.

A method for manufacturing a large-scale single crystal monolayer of hBN including: preparing a single crystal copper substrate of (111) face in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) apparatus; removing impurities of the single crystal copper substrate of (111) face; forming a plurality of hBN crystal seeds by depositing a vaporized ammonia borane or a vaporized borazine on the surface of the single crystal copper substrate from which the impurities are removed; and forming a large-scale single crystal monolayer of hBN grown by mutual coherence between the hBN crystal seeds, an apparatus for manufacturing the same, and a substrate for a monolayer UV graphene growth using the same.

A system for labeling an object uses at least one object label made from a material that absorbs and reflects incident energy uniformly across all wavelengths of incident energy at a ratio proportional to a thickness of the material and that includes a pattern having variations in the thickness of the material along at least one of two orthogonal directions across the label. An interrogator directs a predetermined wavelength of radiation to the at least one label, and a reader to receives reflected radiation from the label at the predetermined wavelength and interprets the reflected radiation to recognize the pattern.

A system for labeling an object uses at least one object label made from a material that absorbs and reflects incident energy uniformly across all wavelengths of incident energy at a ratio proportional to a thickness of the material and that includes a pattern having variations in the thickness of the material along at least one of two orthogonal directions across the label. An interrogator directs a predetermined wavelength of radiation to the at least one label, and a reader to receives reflected radiation from the label at the predetermined wavelength and interprets the reflected radiation to recognize the pattern.

A method for deposition of a thin film onto a substrate is provided. The method includes providing a source precursor containing on or more of elements constituting the thin film, generating a transient species from the source precursor, and depositing a thin film onto the substrate from the transient species. The transient species being a reactive intermediate that has a limited lifetime in a condensed phase at or above room temperature.