Synthesis, Hardness, and Electronic Properties of Stoichiometric VN and CrN

Wang, Shanmin; Yu, Xiaohui; Zhang, Jianzhong; Wang, Liping; Leinenweber, Kurt; He, Duanwei; Zhao, Yusheng

doi:10.1021/acs.cgd.5b01312

Title: Synthesis, Hardness, and Electronic Properties of Stoichiometric VN and CrN

Journal Article · Mon Nov 09 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Crystal Growth and Design

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.5b01312· OSTI ID:1261496

Wang, Shanmin ^[1]; Yu, Xiaohui ^[2]; Zhang, Jianzhong ^[3]; Wang, Liping ^[4]; Leinenweber, Kurt ^[5]; He, Duanwei ^[6]; Zhao, Yusheng ^[4]

Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States); Sichuan Univ., Chengdu (China)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
Sichuan Univ., Chengdu (China)

Here, we report synthesis of single-crystal VN and CrN through high-pressure ionexchange reaction routes. The final products are stoichiometric and have crystallite sizes in the range of 50-120 μm. We also prepared VN and TiN crystals using high-pressure sintering of nitride powders. On the basis of single-crystal indentation testing, the determined asymptotic Vickers hardness for TiN, VN, and CrN is 18 (1), 10 (1), and 16 (1) GPa, respectively. The relatively low hardness in VN indicates that the metallic bonding prevails due to the overfilled metallic σ bonds, although the cation-anion covalent hybridization in this compound is much stronger than that in TiN and CrN. All three nitrides are intrinsically excellent metals at ambient pressure. In particular, VN exhibits superconducting transition at T_c ≈ 7.8 K, which is slightly lower than the reported values for nitrogen-deficient or crystallinedisordered samples due to unsuppressed “spin fluctuation” in the well-crystallized stoichiometric VN. The magnetostructural transition in CrN correlates with a metal-metal transition at T_N = 240(5) K and is accompanied by a ~40% drop in electrical resistivity. In addition, more detailed electronic properties are presented with new insights into these nitrides.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; NA0001982

OSTI ID:: 1261496

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1332351

Journal Information:: Crystal Growth and Design, Vol. 16, Issue 1; ISSN 1528-7483

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 48 works

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transition-metal nitrides
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