CF4
Carbon tetrafluoride · Tetrafluoromethane, R-14, PFC-14
Carbon tetrafluoride is a stable, insulating fluorocarbon gas primarily used as an etchant and refrigerant in industrial and electronic applications.
About Carbon tetrafluoride
Carbon tetrafluoride is a robust, chemically inert compound characterized by its wide-band-gap insulating electronic structure. As a thermodynamically stable molecule, it maintains structural integrity under a variety of demanding environmental conditions, making it a reliable component in industrial gas applications.
Its unique chemical properties are leveraged extensively in high-precision manufacturing, particularly where electrical insulation and plasma stability are required. The compound serves as a critical agent in the microelectronics industry, facilitating precise material removal and surface modification during chip fabrication.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Carbon tetrafluoride, aggregated across 5 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of CF4. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for CF4, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 9.92 | 0.0000 | -2.064 | — |
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | 9.64 | 0.0000 | -1.814 | — |
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | 9.07 | 0.0000 | -5.558 | 2.38 |
| — | — | 10.24 | 0.0153 | -2.048 | — |
| — | — | 10.34 | 0.0196 | -2.044 | — |
| — | — | 10.33 | 0.0219 | -2.042 | — |
| — | — | 10.24 | 0.0396 | -2.024 | — |
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 2.20 |
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 2.19 |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
Applications
Where Carbon tetrafluoride is used.
Patent Landscape
2 patents reference CF4 or close compositional variants.
| Patent | Title | Assignee | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9318319 | Radical-enhanced atomic layer deposition using CF4 to enhance oxygen radical generation | — | — |
| 6086777 | Tantalum barrier metal removal by using CF.sub.4 /o.sub.2 plasma dry etch | — | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Carbon tetrafluoride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is CF4?
Carbon tetrafluoride is a stable, insulating fluorocarbon gas primarily used as an etchant and refrigerant in industrial and electronic applications.
What is CF4 used for?
What is the band gap of CF4?
Is CF4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is CF4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of CF4?
How many polymorphs of CF4 are known?
What elements does CF4 contain?
Where does the data for CF4 come from?
How It Compares
As a foundational fluorocarbon, this compound represents the simplest perfluorinated alkane, serving as a benchmark for stability and inertness within the broader class of fluorinated gases. Unlike more complex or reactive fluorocarbons, its structural simplicity and thermodynamic favorability make it a primary choice for applications requiring high dielectric strength and chemical resistance.
Data sources & attribution
- 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)
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database (crystallography.net/cod/). Cite: Grazulis et al., J. Appl. Cryst. 42, 726 (2009). (CC0-1.0)
- nomad — Data from NOMAD (nomad-lab.eu). Cite: Draxl & Scheffler, J. Phys. Mater. 2, 036001 (2019). (CC-BY-4.0)
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