Preparation and properties of the ternary nitride ZrNF

A single crystal of ZrNF has been successfully prepared by the high-temperature and high-pressure method. The crystals had the plate-like habit and was colorless and transparent. Unlike the layer structured β-ZrNX (X=Cl, Br, I) crystals prepared by the same method, which consist of ZrN double layers sandwiched between close-packed halogen layers the ZrNF crystal had superstructures with a 5-fold a-axis. Furthermore, we have unexpectedly found that the ZrNF crystal shows weak ferromagnetic with the Curie temperature Tc as high as 120 K.