Cu3Sn
bronze · epsilon-phase copper-tin
Cu3Sn is a metallic copper-tin intermetallic compound frequently encountered in electronic soldering and thin-film applications.
About bronze
Cu3Sn is a metallic intermetallic phase within the copper-tin binary system. Characterized by its lack of a band gap, it exhibits typical metallic conductivity and is a subject of significant interest in materials science due to its complex structural behavior and formation kinetics.
As a metastable phase, its stability is highly dependent on processing conditions. It is a critical component in the study of solder joints and thin-film reactions, where its formation dictates the mechanical and electrical integrity of electronic packaging assemblies.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for bronze, aggregated across 6 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 Cu3Sn. 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 Cu3Sn, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0122 | -0.024 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0150 | -0.021 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0269 | -14.295 | 8.80 |
| Pmmn (No. 59) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0294 | 0.018 | — |
| Pmmn (No. 59) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0335 | -14.288 | 9.18 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0360 | -14.286 | 9.16 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0375 | 0.026 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0597 | 0.023 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0692 | 0.033 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0715 | 0.035 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0736 | -14.248 | 8.76 |
| Pm-3m (No. 221) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0972 | 0.086 | — |
Applications
Where bronze is used.
Patent Landscape
1 patent reference Cu3Sn or close compositional variants.
| Patent | Title | Assignee | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8372542 | Tin and tin-zinc plated substrates including Cu3Sn and Cu6Sn5 to improve Ni-Zn cell performance | — | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about bronze, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Cu3Sn?
Cu3Sn is a metallic copper-tin intermetallic compound frequently encountered in electronic soldering and thin-film applications.
What is Cu3Sn used for?
What is the band gap of Cu3Sn?
Is Cu3Sn a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Cu3Sn thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Cu3Sn?
What is the density of Cu3Sn?
How many polymorphs of Cu3Sn are known?
What elements does Cu3Sn contain?
Where does the data for Cu3Sn come from?
How It Compares
As a distinct intermetallic phase in the copper-tin system, Cu3Sn serves as a fundamental building block in metallurgical research. It acts as a primary reference point for understanding phase transformation and diffusion processes in binary metallic systems.
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)
- 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)
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database (crystallography.net/cod/). Cite: Grazulis et al., J. Appl. Cryst. 42, 726 (2009). (CC0-1.0)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
- nomad — Data from NOMAD (nomad-lab.eu). Cite: Draxl & Scheffler, J. Phys. Mater. 2, 036001 (2019). (CC-BY-4.0)
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