LaF3

Lanthanum trifluoride · Lanthanum fluoride

Lanthanum trifluoride is a stable, wide-gap insulating compound used primarily in high-performance optical and electronic technologies.

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Crystal structure of LaF3
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Lanthanum trifluoride

Lanthanum trifluoride is a robust, thermodynamically stable inorganic compound characterized by its insulating electronic nature. Its structural integrity and chemical resilience make it a foundational material in advanced optical and electronic applications.

Due to its wide-gap electronic profile, this material is highly valued for its transparency across a broad spectral range. It serves as a key component in specialized glass formulations and as a precursor for various fluoride-based solid-state technologies.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Lanthanum trifluoride, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

4.82–6.05 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

51
4 databases, 15 space groups
Uses

Applications

Where Lanthanum trifluoride is used.

Optical coatingsLaser host materialsFluoride-ion conductorsSpecialty glass manufacturingScintillator materials
Intellectual Property

Patent Landscape

1 patent reference LaF3 or close compositional variants.

PatentTitleAssigneeGranted
10618819Para-aminobenzoic acid sensitized terbium doped LaF3 nanoparticles for detection of explosive nitro compounds
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Lanthanum trifluoride, answered from cross-validated data.

What is LaF3?

Lanthanum trifluoride is a stable, wide-gap insulating compound used primarily in high-performance optical and electronic technologies.

More questions
What is LaF3 used for?
Lanthanum trifluoride (LaF3) is used in optical coatings, laser host materials, fluoride-ion conductors, specialty glass manufacturing, and scintillator materials.
What is the band gap of LaF3?
Lanthanum trifluoride (LaF3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 4.82–6.05 eV across 51 reported structures.
Is LaF3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 6.05 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is LaF3 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Lanthanum trifluoride (LaF3) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
How many polymorphs of LaF3 are known?
51 structures of LaF3 are reported across 4 databases, spanning 15 distinct space groups.
What elements does LaF3 contain?
Lanthanum trifluoride (LaF3) contains F and La (2 elements).
Where does the data for LaF3 come from?
LaF3 data is cross-referenced from latticegraph.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a prominent fluoride compound, Lanthanum trifluoride stands out for its exceptional structural stability and well-documented polymorphic behavior, serving as a benchmark material for investigating lanthanide-based ionic conductors and optical hosts.

Data sources & attribution
  • latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform

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