Ho2O3
Holmium(III) oxide · Holmia
Holmium(III) oxide is a stable, insulating rare-earth compound widely used in optical and magnetic technologies.
About Holmium(III) oxide
Holmium(III) oxide is a thermodynamically stable rare-earth sesquioxide that exhibits insulating electronic behavior. Its robust chemical nature and high stability make it a reliable material for various high-performance technological environments.
Due to its unique electronic structure, this compound is primarily utilized in advanced optical components and magnetic research. It serves as a critical precursor for specialized glass manufacturing and as a dopant in laser materials, benefiting from its stable lattice configuration.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Holmium(III) oxide, 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 Ho2O3. 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 Ho2O3, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 4.14 | 0.0000 | -3.874 | — |
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | cubic | 4.09 | 0.0000 | -3.860 | — |
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | cubic | 3.95 | 0.0000 | -8.835 | 8.61 |
| — | — | 4.28 | 0.0125 | -3.862 | — |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 4.14 | 0.0232 | -3.837 | — |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 4.06 | 0.0317 | -8.804 | 9.35 |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | trigonal | 4.34 | 0.0441 | -3.816 | — |
| — | — | 4.27 | 0.0451 | -3.829 | — |
| — | — | 3.81 | 0.0507 | -3.823 | — |
| — | — | 4.55 | 0.0513 | -3.823 | — |
| — | — | 4.39 | 0.0535 | -3.821 | — |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | trigonal | 4.24 | 0.0538 | -8.782 | 9.49 |
Applications
Where Holmium(III) oxide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Holmium(III) oxide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Ho2O3?
Holmium(III) oxide is a stable, insulating rare-earth compound widely used in optical and magnetic technologies.
What is Ho2O3 used for?
What is the band gap of Ho2O3?
Is Ho2O3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Ho2O3 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Ho2O3?
How many polymorphs of Ho2O3 are known?
What elements does Ho2O3 contain?
Where does the data for Ho2O3 come from?
How It Compares
As a member of the rare-earth sesquioxide family, this compound represents a highly stable and well-characterized material. It occupies a significant position within the class of lanthanide oxides, serving as a foundational material for applications requiring precise optical and dielectric properties.
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)
- aflow — Data from AFLOW (aflow.org). Cite: Curtarolo et al., Comp. Mater. Sci. 58, 218 (2012). (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)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
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