Niobium nitride

Niobium nitride
Names
	IUPAC name Niobium nitride
Identifiers
CAS Number	24621-21-4 ;
ECHA InfoCard	100.042.132
PubChem CID	90560;
Properties
Chemical formula	NbN
Molar mass	106.91 g/mol
Appearance	gray solid
Density	8.470 g/cm3
Melting point	2,573 °C (4,663 °F; 2,846 K)
Solubility in water	reacts to form ammonia
Structure
Crystal structure	cubic, cF8
Space group	Fm3m, No. 225
Hazards
Safety data sheet	External MSDS
Flash point	Non-flammable
Related compounds
Other cations	Vanadium nitride; Tantalum nitride
	Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
	verify (what is ?)
	Infobox references

Niobium nitride is a compound of niobium and nitrogen (nitride) with the chemical formula NbN. At low temperatures (about 16 K) NbN, niobium nitride becomes a superconductor, and is used in detectors for infrared light.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Uses

Niobium nitride's main use is as a superconductor. Detectors based on it can detect a single photon in the 1-10 micrometer section of the infrared spectrum,^[4] which is important for astronomy and telecommunications. It can detect changes up to 25 gigahertz.
Niobium nitride is also used in absorbing anti-reflective coatings.
In 2015, it was reported that Panasonic Corp. has developed a photocatalyst based on niobium nitride that can absorb 57% of sunlight to support the decomposition of water to produce hydrogen gas as fuel for electrochemical fuel cells.^[5]

↑ Y. M. Shy, L. E. Toth and R. Somasundaram (1973). "Superconducting properties, electrical resistivities, and structure of NbN thin films". Journal of Applied Physics. 44: 5539. Bibcode:1973JAP....44.5539S. doi:10.1063/1.1662193.
↑ J. W. Kooi; J. J. A. Baselmans; M. Hajenius; J. R. Gao; T. M. Klapwijk; P. Dieleman; A. Baryshev; G. de Lange (2007). "IF impedance and mixer gain of NbN hot electron bolometers". Journal of Applied Physics. 101: 044511. Bibcode:2007JAP...101d4511K. doi:10.1063/1.2400086.
↑ S. P. Chockalingam; Madhavi Chand; John Jesudasan; Vikram Tripathi; Pratap Raychaudhuri (2009). "Superconducting properties and Hall effect in epitaxial NbN thin films". Physical Review B. 77: 214503. arXiv:0804.2945. Bibcode:2008PhRvB..77u4503C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.77.214503.
↑ M Hajenius, J J A Baselmans, J R Gao, T M Klapwijk, P A J de Korte, B Voronov and G Gol'tsman (2004). "Low noise NbN superconducting hot electron bolometer mixers at 1.9 and 2.5 THz". Superconductor Science and Technology. 17: S224. Bibcode:2004SuScT..17S.224H. doi:10.1088/0953-2048/17/5/026.
↑ Yamamura, Tetsushi (August 2, 2015). "Panasonic moves closer to home energy self-sufficiency with fuel cells". Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-02.