Structure Determination of β-Nb₂N Phase in Thin Film Form by 3D Electron Diffraction

In this work, we aim to add a new insight in a long-standing controversy regarding the crystallographic description of the β-Nb₂N phase, one of the polytype of the NbN compound. This particular metallic phase exhibits a hexagonal structure having smooth interfaces when epitaxially grown by MBE on III-Nitrides semiconductors which makes it a promising candidate for the epitaxial growth of hybrid III-N/NbN/III-N heterostructures. Recent progress in the crystallography of nanocrystalline materials using the 3D-ED technique has made it possible to accurately determine and refine the crystal structure of the β-Nb₂N phase on a 60 nm monocrystalline thin film grown by MBE.