Characterization of the Binary Nitrides VN and ScN by Solid‐State NMR Spectroscopy

Abstract

NMR spectra of polycrystalline samples of the binary nitrides ScN and VN were acquired under magic‐angle spinning. The observed nuclides 45Sc, 51V and 14N are all quadrupolar nuclei with a spin I>1/2 ${I\char62 1/2}$ . However, due to the high symmetry of their rock‐salt type structures, the spectra of the nitrides do not exhibit effects of quadrupolar or other anisotropic interactions of significant magnitude. This allows a relatively straightforward evaluation of the acquired spectra, leading to isotropic chemical shift values (δiso) of −213 ppm (51VN), 378 ppm (V14N), 290 ppm (45ScN) and 442 ppm (Sc14N) against commonly used reference standards. In the wider context of 14N‐NMR of binary nitrides, it is shown that the distance of nitrogen to the nearest neighbour cation can be correlated to the observed chemical shift.