Structure determination and electronic structure of Cu3Au0.5N

This study investigated the formation of a Cu3Au-nitride alloy using both experimental and computational methods. The alloy was produced as thin film by sputtering a Cu3Au target in a nitrogen atmosphere. The films were characterized for structure and composition by spectroscopic and diffraction techniques. The structure was established by Rietveld and ab inito methods. The structure is cubic and of the Fm3m space group, with a composition close to Cu6AuN2. Relative to the Cu3N structure, the Cu atoms occupy the faces, Au the half corners, and N the centers. The compound is a narrow-gap semiconductor with a positive hall coefficient that could be used for infrared detection.