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Symmetry relations in wurtzite nitrides and oxide nitrides and the curious case of Pmc 2 1
Author(s) -
Breternitz Joachim,
Schorr Susan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta crystallographica section a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.742
H-Index - 83
ISSN - 2053-2733
DOI - 10.1107/s2053273320015971
Subject(s) - wurtzite crystal structure , nitride , materials science , ternary operation , stoichiometry , crystallography , oxide , chemical physics , chemistry , nanotechnology , zinc , metallurgy , computer science , layer (electronics) , programming language
Binary III–V nitrides such as AlN, GaN and InN in the wurtzite‐type structure have long been considered as potent semiconducting materials because of their optoelectronic properties, amongst others. With rising concerns over the utilization of scarce elements, a replacement of the trivalent cations by others in ternary and multinary nitrides has led to the development of different variants of nitrides and oxide nitrides crystallizing in lower‐symmetry variants of wurtzite. This work presents the symmetry relationships between these structural types specific to nitrides and oxide nitrides and updates some prior work on this matter. The non‐existence of compounds crystallizing in Pmc 2 1 , formally the highest subgroup of the wurtzite type fulfilling Pauling's rules for 1:1:2 stoichiometries, has been puzzling scientists for a while; a rationalization is given, from a crystallographic basis, of why this space group is unlikely to be adopted.