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Here, a strategic design is presented to enable multifunctional materials by substituting multiple elements into AlN to create quaternary nitride alloys. By combining computational predictions and combinatorial thin film synthesis, the phase diagram of these quaternary Al\u2013Sc\u2013Gd\u2013N alloys (or pseudo\u2010ternary heterostructural AlN\u2013ScN\u2013GdN alloys) is successfully predicted as a function of effective temperature, and we experimentally grow  thin films for the first time. It is revealed that  crystallizes in a wurtzite\u2010derived structure for , consistent with the calculated phase diagram. The computational investigation explores whether co\u2010substitution induces cooperative effects on these alloys' piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties, finding that it is beneficial for reducing the polarization switching barrier. We calculate that  thin films should display ferroelectric switching. This is supported by our experimental measurements of a high optical bandgap, enhanced piezoelectric coefficient, and a change in the calculated polarization switching mechanism, and we achieve preliminary ferroelectric switching that experimentally realizes the prediction. Overall, our work sets the foundation toward quaternary wurtzite\u2010nitride\u2010based multifunctional materials, including piezoelectrics, ferroelectrics, and possibly even\u00a0multiferroics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/advs.202520641","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T12:17:30Z","timestamp":1769775450000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Phase Diagrams and Piezoelectric Properties of Wurtzite Al\n                    <sub>\n                      1\u2212\n                      <i>x<\/i>\n                      \u2212\n                      <i>y<\/i>\n                    <\/sub>\n                    Sc\n                    <sub>\n                      <i>x<\/i>\n                    <\/sub>\n                    Gd\n                    <sub>\n                      <i>y<\/i>\n                    <\/sub>\n                    N Heterostructural Alloys"],"prefix":"10.1002","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7609-9922","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julia L.","family":"Martin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8317-588X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cheng\u2010Wei","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA"},{"name":"Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-1404-1157","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nate S.P.","family":"Bernstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA"},{"name":"Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thi","family":"Nguyen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy New York USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ande","family":"Bryan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eli","family":"Cooper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5926-7565","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"John S.","family":"Mangum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6505-5016","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sage R.","family":"Bauers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3054-5525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andriy","family":"Zakutayev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5304-1696","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Keisuke","family":"Yazawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA"},{"name":"Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7866-0672","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Prashun","family":"Gorai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA"},{"name":"Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy New York USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8349-2615","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rebecca W.","family":"Smaha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_8_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.281.5379.956"},{"key":"e_1_2_8_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevMaterials.2.063802"},{"issue":"7","key":"e_1_2_8_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/aelm.201900214","article-title":"Synthesis of Lanthanum Tungsten Oxynitride Perovskite Thin Films","volume":"5","author":"Talley K. 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