High temperature elastic properties of the hard superconductor ZrN using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

Zirconium nitride is a hard superconducting compound (T_c ≈ 10 K) that is of interest for use in Josephson junctions, hard coatings, and as an inert matrix for actinide nuclear materials. For nuclear fuel applications, the high temperature elastic properties are of particular interest because they will demonstrate whether the structural integrity of ZrN can be maintained at reactor temperatures. To date, the only experimental reports of elastic moduli in ZrN were obtained at room temperature from neutron scattering data. Here, we present measurements of the elastic moduli of several polycrystalline ZrN samples (porosity ≈ 6%) from cryogenic temperatures up to 1000 °C obtained using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy. We compare and contrast the elastic moduli at room temperature with those obtained from neutron scattering measurements and density functional theory calculations.