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Abstract Vanadium nitride (VN) is a transition-metal nitride with remarkable properties that have prompted extensive experimental and theoretical investigations in recent years. However, there is a current paucity of experimental research investigating the temperature-dependent electronic structure of single-crystalline VN. In this study, high-quality VN (111) films were successfully synthesized on α -Al ₂ 2 O ₃ 3 (0001) substrates using magnetron sputtering. The crystal and electronic structures of the VN films were characterized by a combination of high-resolution X-ray diffraction, low-energy electron diffraction, resonant soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrical transport measurements indicate that the superconducting critical temperature of the VN films is around 8. 1 K. Intriguingly, the temperature-dependent photoelectron spectroscopy measurements demonstrate a weak temperature dependence in the electronic structure of the VN films, which is significant for understanding the ground state of VN compounds.
Zhai et al. (Mon,) studied this question.