Sc2O3
Scandium oxide · Scandia
Scandium oxide is a stable, insulating ceramic compound widely used for its optical and thermal properties in high-tech manufacturing.
About Scandium oxide
Scandium oxide is a robust, thermodynamically stable ceramic material characterized by its wide-gap insulating electronic properties. Its high structural integrity and chemical resilience make it a vital component in specialized industrial applications that require extreme thermal and optical stability.
Due to its unique electronic nature, this compound is frequently utilized in the development of high-refractive-index optical thin films and as a dopant in laser crystals. Its ability to maintain performance under demanding conditions ensures its continued relevance in modern materials engineering.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Scandium oxide, 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.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of Sc2O3. 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 Sc2O3, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 4.12 | 0.0000 | -3.807 | — |
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | cubic | 3.85 | 0.0000 | -3.815 | — |
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | cubic | 3.81 | 0.0000 | -9.470 | 3.82 |
| — | — | 3.90 | 0.0148 | -3.793 | — |
| R-3c (No. 167) | trigonal | 4.19 | 0.0331 | -3.782 | — |
| R-3c (No. 167) | trigonal | 4.13 | 0.0364 | -9.434 | 3.89 |
| — | — | 4.25 | 0.0382 | -3.769 | — |
| — | — | 4.29 | 0.0410 | -3.766 | — |
| — | — | 4.50 | 0.0410 | -3.766 | — |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 3.56 | 0.0593 | -3.756 | — |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 3.48 | 0.0659 | -9.405 | 4.10 |
| — | — | 3.79 | 0.0730 | -3.734 | — |
Applications
Where Scandium oxide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Scandium oxide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Sc2O3?
Scandium oxide is a stable, insulating ceramic compound widely used for its optical and thermal properties in high-tech manufacturing.
What is Sc2O3 used for?
What is the band gap of Sc2O3?
Is Sc2O3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Sc2O3 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Sc2O3?
How many polymorphs of Sc2O3 are known?
What elements does Sc2O3 contain?
Where does the data for Sc2O3 come from?
How It Compares
As a highly stable and well-documented material, scandium oxide serves as a foundational oxide in the field of rare-earth chemistry, providing a benchmark for structural reliability and insulating performance within its class of binary metal oxides.
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)
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