Ga
Gallium · element 31
Gallium is a metallic chemical element widely used in the production of semiconductors and electronic components.
About Gallium
Gallium is a metallic element that exists as a stable solid under standard conditions but is notable for its ability to transition into a liquid state near room temperature. Its electronic structure allows it to function as a versatile conductor, making it a cornerstone material in modern electronics. The element is highly valued for its role in high-frequency devices and optoelectronics. Due to its thermodynamic stability and favorable chemical properties, it remains a foundational building block for advanced materials science and semiconductor manufacturing.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Gallium, 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 Ga. 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 Ga, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I4/mmm (No. 139) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.043 | — |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -11.443 | 6.04 |
| I4/mmm (No. 139) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.043 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.008 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.025 | — |
| I-43d (No. 220) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.036 | — |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.043 | — |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.043 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.025 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0021 | 0.002 | — |
Applications
Where Gallium is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Gallium, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Ga?
Gallium is a metallic chemical element widely used in the production of semiconductors and electronic components.
What is Ga used for?
What is the band gap of Ga?
Is Ga a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Ga thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Ga?
How many polymorphs of Ga are known?
What elements does Ga contain?
Where does the data for Ga come from?
How It Compares
As a pure elemental metal, gallium serves as the fundamental precursor for a wide range of compound semiconductors, defining the performance characteristics for the entire class of gallium-based electronic materials.
Data sources & attribution
- 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)
- 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)
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