Transition metal mononitrides (TMNs) like ZrN—which shows uniquely and drastically chemically tunable properties such as permittivity, carrier concentration, structure, hardness, and heat capacity—have arrived as frontrunner plasmonic and nonlinear optical material alternatives to Ag and Au. The influence of dopant atoms and defect states on the permittivity and structural properties in ZrN chemistries, as well as a broadband epsilon near zero (ENZ) regime spanning the visible wavelength range and into the near infrared are demonstrated. Reasons why progress in ZrN (despite its attractive features) lags that of TiN are discussed and related to defect and impurity states in precursor materials.
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