AlN single crystals of 0.5 in diameter and up to 10-12 mm long have been grown by sublimation/recondensation in pre-treated tantalum crucibles. Growth of 45 mm diameter and 4 mm long polycrystalline AlN boules has also been demonstrated. After high-temperature pre-treatment in a carbon-containing atmosphere, the tantalum crucibles can be used for 300-400 h of AlN sublimation growth at 2200-2300 degrees C, without Ta impurities or additional C impurities in concentrations higher than 100 ppm appearing in the crystals. Both self-seeded growth of polycrystalline AlN on the crucible lid and seeded growth of single-crystal AlN on (0 0 0 1) SiC plates and AlN/SiC templates are demonstrated. Xray diffractometry and topography of the grown crystals show a block structure with the characteristic block size > 200 nm and the scatter of FWHMs of omega-scans in the range of 60-750 arcsec. Test slicing and polishing of the crystals and test MBE growth of AlGaN/AlN structures on the obtained AlN substrates have been successfully performed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.