Aluminum nitride (AlN) epitaxial layer on sapphire (0 0 0 1) substrate was grown at high temperatures above 1200 degrees C by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). A high-temperature growth system was built by combining a conventional hot-wall type furnace and a heating susceptor with integrated heating element. This system realized growth of AlN by HVPE above 1200 degrees C even in the quartz reactor. Growth rates of AlN stay constant in the temperature range of 1280-1410 degrees C. This result was consistent with the results expected from thermodynamic analysis, and represents that growth of AlN by HVPE is under mass transportation limited process even at high temperatures. Epitaxial growth of AlN with growth rate of 85 mu m/h was achieved at 1380 degrees C. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.