He
Helium · He
Helium is a chemically inert, monatomic noble gas that serves as a vital resource for cryogenic cooling and specialized industrial processes.
About Helium
Helium is a noble gas that exists as a monatomic, colorless, and odorless element. As a wide-gap insulator, it is characterized by its exceptional chemical stability and resistance to forming compounds under standard conditions, positioning it as a fundamental reference point for inert matter.
Its thermodynamic stability on the convex hull underscores its status as one of the most chemically unreactive elements in the periodic table. This unique electronic character makes it an indispensable medium for high-precision scientific instrumentation and industrial cooling applications where chemical purity is paramount.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Helium, aggregated across 3 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.
Applications
Where Helium is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Helium, answered from cross-validated data.
What is He?
Helium is a chemically inert, monatomic noble gas that serves as a vital resource for cryogenic cooling and specialized industrial processes.
What is He used for?
What is the band gap of He?
Is He a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is He thermodynamically stable?
How many polymorphs of He are known?
What elements does He contain?
Where does the data for He come from?
How It Compares
As a singular noble gas, Helium serves as the definitive benchmark for chemical inertness and insulating behavior against which other elements and compounds are measured.
Data sources & attribution
- latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform
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