BiSb

BiSb is a stable semiconducting intermetallic compound formed from bismuth and antimony.

BiSb
Crystal structure of BiSb (trigonal, R3m (No. 160))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About BiSb

BiSb is a binary intermetallic compound composed of bismuth and antimony. It exists as a thermodynamically stable phase, occupying a position on the convex hull that signifies its robustness in solid-state form.

As a semiconducting material, it is frequently investigated for its unique electronic properties. With a significant number of reported structures across various databases, it remains a subject of interest for researchers studying the behavior of heavy pnictogen alloys.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for BiSb, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

0.05 eV
Range across DFT structures · ground state: small gap

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Stable
3 DFT sources

Structures

47
4 databases, 11 space groups
Validation

Cross-Source DFT Agreement

How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of BiSb. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.

Agreement Score

1.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: high

Hull Spread

0.000 eV
EAH spread across sources

Sources Compared

3
jarvis, materials_project, oqmd

Space Group Consensus

All match
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for BiSb, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
R3m (No. 160)trigonal0.050.0000-42.1118.05
R3m (No. 160)trigonal0.030.0000-0.009—
——0.000.0000-0.009—
——0.000.01660.008—
——0.000.04370.035—
——0.000.07570.067—
——0.000.08370.075—
——0.000.11980.111—
——0.000.14000.131—
——0.000.16690.158—
——0.000.18520.177—
——0.000.22590.217—
Uses

Applications

Where BiSb is used.

Semiconductor researchThermoelectric material studiesTopological insulator investigations
Intellectual Property

Patent Landscape

1 patent reference BiSb or close compositional variants.

PatentTitleAssigneeGranted
12176132Highly textured 001 BiSb and materials for making same——
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about BiSb, answered from cross-validated data.

What is BiSb?

BiSb is a stable semiconducting intermetallic compound formed from bismuth and antimony.

More questions
What is BiSb used for?
BiSb is used in semiconductor research, thermoelectric material studies, and topological insulator investigations.
What is the band gap of BiSb?
BiSb has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.05 eV across 47 reported structures. Standard DFT underestimates band gaps, so the measured gap is typically larger.
Is BiSb a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
DFT predicts a near-zero band gap ((semi)metallic). Standard DFT underestimates gaps, so the real material may be a semiconductor.
Is BiSb thermodynamically stable?
Yes — BiSb sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. stable.
What is the crystal structure of BiSb?
The reference structure of BiSb is trigonal symmetry, space group R3m (No. 160).
What is the density of BiSb?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of BiSb is 8.05 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of BiSb are known?
47 structures of BiSb are reported across 4 databases, spanning 11 distinct space groups.
What elements does BiSb contain?
BiSb contains Bi and Sb (2 elements).
Where does the data for BiSb come from?
BiSb data is cross-referenced from materials_project, jarvis, oqmd, mpaloe.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a binary pnictide, BiSb serves as a foundational example of how combining heavy group 15 elements can yield stable semiconducting phases. It represents a critical baseline for understanding the structural and electronic evolution of bismuth-antimony systems in materials science.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
  • oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
  • mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.

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