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Interest in inorganic ternary nitride materials has grown rapidly over the past few decades, as their diverse chemistries and structures make them appealing for a variety of applications. Due to synthetic challenges posed by the stability of N 2 , the number of predicted nitride compounds dwarfs the number that has been synthesized, offering a breadth of opportunity for exploration. This review summarizes the fundamental properties and structural chemistry of ternary nitrides, leveraging metastability and the impact of nitrogen chemical potential. A discussion of prevalent defects, both detrimental and beneficial, is followed by a survey of synthesis techniques and their interplay with metastability. Throughout the review, we highlight applications (such as solid-state lighting, electrochemical energy storage, and electronic devices) in which ternary nitrides show particular promise. 

Abstract Ternary metal‐oxide material systems commonly crystallize in the perovskite crystal structure, which is utilized in numerous electronic applications. In contrast to oxides, there are no known nitride perovskites, likely due to the competition with oxidation, which makes the formation of pure nitride materials difficult and synthesis of oxynitride materials more common. While deposition of oxynitride perovskite thin films is important for many electronic applications, it is difficult to control oxygen and nitrogen stoichiometry. Lanthanum tungsten oxynitride (LaWN_3−δO_δ) thin films with varying La:W ratio are synthesized by combinatorial sputtering and characterized for their chemical composition, crystal structure, and microstructure. A three‐step synthesis method, which involves co‐sputtering, capping layer deposition, and rapid thermal annealing, is established for producing crystalline thin films while minimizing the oxygen content. Elemental depth profiling results show that the cation‐stoichiometric films contain approximately one oxygen for every five nitrogen (δ = 0.5). Synchrotron‐based diffraction indicates a tetragonal perovskite crystal structure. These results are discussed in terms of the perovskite tolerance factors, octahedral tilting, and bond valence. Overall, this synthesis and characterization is expected to pave the way toward future thin film property measurements of lanthanum tungsten oxynitrides and eventual synthesis of oxygen‐free nitride perovskites.