Er2O3
Erbium oxide · Erbia
Erbium oxide is a stable, insulating rare-earth oxide widely utilized for its specialized optical and dielectric properties in advanced technology.

About Erbium oxide
Erbium oxide is a thermodynamically stable compound that functions as a wide-band-gap insulator. Its electronic structure makes it a critical material for high-performance optical components and thin-film technology where electrical isolation is required. The material is characterized by its robust chemical stability and is frequently studied for its role in advanced dielectric applications. Due to its well-defined structural properties, it serves as a reliable building block in materials science research. It is particularly valued in photonics and glass manufacturing for its ability to modify the refractive index and optical absorption characteristics of host materials.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Erbium oxide, aggregated across 4 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.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Er2O3, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | cubic | 3.96 | 0.0000 | -8.853 | 8.89 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 4.10 | 0.0342 | -8.819 | 9.65 |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | trigonal | 4.20 | 0.0597 | -8.793 | 9.80 |
| R3m (No. 160) | trigonal | 2.88 | 0.1363 | -8.717 | 8.45 |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | — | — | — | — | — |
| R3m (No. 160) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P4mm (No. 99) | Tetragonal | — | — | — | 10.03 |
| P4mm (No. 99) | Tetragonal | — | — | — | 9.22 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | Trigonal | — | — | — | 9.52 |
Applications
Where Erbium oxide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Erbium oxide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Er2O3?
Erbium oxide is a stable, insulating rare-earth oxide widely utilized for its specialized optical and dielectric properties in advanced technology.
What is Er2O3 used for?
What is the band gap of Er2O3?
Is Er2O3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Er2O3 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Er2O3?
What is the density of Er2O3?
How many polymorphs of Er2O3 are known?
What elements does Er2O3 contain?
Where does the data for Er2O3 come from?
How It Compares
As a stable rare-earth sesquioxide, this compound represents a fundamental member of the lanthanide oxide family, serving as a benchmark for insulating performance and structural integrity in high-temperature environments.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- aflow — Data from AFLOW. Cite: Curtarolo et al., Comp. Mater. Sci. 58, 218 (2012).
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
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