Ne

Neon · Ne

Neon is a chemically inert, noble gas element known for its insulating properties and its widespread use in lighting and cryogenic cooling.

Ne
Crystal structure of Ne (cubic, Fm-3m (No. 225))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Neon

Neon is a noble gas characterized by its role as a wide-band-gap insulator. It exists as a thermodynamically stable element, maintaining its integrity under standard conditions as a chemically inert monatomic gas. Its electronic configuration makes it highly resistant to chemical bonding, which defines its utility in various industrial and scientific applications.

Due to its unique properties, neon is a critical component in gas-discharge lighting and high-voltage indicators. Its stability and inert nature allow it to serve as a reliable medium in specialized laser systems and as a refrigerant in cryogenic research, where it provides cooling capacity beyond that of lighter noble gases.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Neon, aggregated across 6 databases.

Band Gap

11.43–14.20 eV
Range across DFT structures · ground state: insulator

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Stable
4 DFT sources

Structures

83
6 databases, 1 space group
Validation

Cross-Source DFT Agreement

How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of Ne. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.

Agreement Score

1.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: high

Hull Spread

0.000 eV
EAH spread across sources

Sources Compared

3
jarvis, materials_project, oqmd

Space Group Consensus

All match
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for Ne, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.200.00000.000—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.160.0000-0.015—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.150.0000-0.015—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.150.0000-0.014—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.140.0000-0.009—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.130.0000-0.008—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.130.0000-0.008—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.120.0000-0.021—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.090.0000-0.024—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.090.0000-0.024—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.090.0000-0.024—
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic12.090.0000-0.024—
Uses

Applications

Where Neon is used.

Gas-discharge lightingHigh-voltage indicatorsCryogenic refrigerationGas lasers
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Neon, answered from cross-validated data.

What is Ne?

Neon is a chemically inert, noble gas element known for its insulating properties and its widespread use in lighting and cryogenic cooling.

More questions
What is Ne used for?
Neon (Ne) is used in gas-discharge lighting, high-voltage indicators, cryogenic refrigeration, and gas lasers.
What is the band gap of Ne?
Neon (Ne) has a DFT-computed band gap of 11.43–14.20 eV across 83 reported structures. Standard DFT underestimates band gaps, so the measured gap is typically larger.
Is Ne a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
DFT predicts a wide band gap of up to 14.20 eV (an insulator or wide-band-gap material).
Is Ne thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Neon (Ne) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. stable.
What is the crystal structure of Ne?
The reference structure of Neon (Ne) is cubic symmetry, space group Fm-3m (No. 225).
How many polymorphs of Ne are known?
83 structures of Ne are reported across 6 databases, spanning 1 distinct space group.
What elements does Ne contain?
Neon (Ne) contains Ne (1 element).
Where does the data for Ne come from?
Ne data is cross-referenced from jarvis, oqmd, materials_project.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a noble gas, neon occupies a unique position in the periodic table, serving as a primary reference for inert, wide-gap insulating behavior in elemental form.

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)
  • 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)
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)

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