Ternary Nitride Materials: Fundamentals and Emerging Device Applications Ann L. Greenaway,1 Celeste L. Melamed,2;1 M. Brooks Tellekamp,1 Rachel Woods-Robinson,3;4;1 Eric S. Toberer,2 James R. Neilson5 and Adele C. Tamboli1* 1Materials and Chemistry Science and Technology Directorate, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States, 80401 email:
[email protected] 2Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, United States, 80401 3Applied Science and Technology Graduate Group, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States, 97402 4Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States, 94720 5Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States, 80523 Keywords ternary nitride, structural chemistry, metastability, nitride synthesis, optoelectronics, battery Abstract Interest in inorganic ternary nitride materials has grown rapidly over the past few decades, as their diversity of chemistries and structures make them appealing for a variety of applications. Due to synthetic challenges posed by the stability of N2, the number of predicted ni- tride compounds dwarfs those that have been synthesized, offering a breadth of opportunity for exploration. This review summarizes the fundamental properties and structural chemistry of ternary nitrides, leveraging metastability and the impact of nitrogen chemical potential. A discussion of prevalent defects, both detrimental and beneficial, is followed by a survey of synthesis techniques and their interplay with arXiv:2010.08058v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci] 15 Oct 2020 metastability. Throughout the review, we highlight applications (such as solid-state lighting, electrochemical energy storage, and electronic devices) in which ternary nitrides show particular promise. 1 Contents 1.