Synthesis and Characterization of Semiconductor Tantalum Nitride Nanoparticles

We have developed colloidal synthesis methods to create nanoparticles (NPs) of tantalum nitride. The particle sizes and crystallinity can be controlled through the use of different organic solvents and reaction times; we demonstrate here NPs ranging in size from 2 to 23 nm. While electron microscopy and selected area diffraction demonstrate the synthesis of NPs of tantalum nitride (which may be partially oxidized), results from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveal that the majority of the tantalum in our sample is present as an unidentified molecular-scale oxide species.