SiC
SiC has a DFT band gap of 1.18–2.62 eV across 427 reported structures in 41 space groups; its reference structure is trigonal (R3m (No. 160)). Cross-validated across 3 computational databases.
At a glance
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for SiC, 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.
1.18–2.62 eV
Range across DFT structures · ground state: wide gap
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.
0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources
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.
Stable
3 DFT sources
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
427
3 databases, 41 space groups
Validation
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of SiC. 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.
1.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: high
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
0.000 eV
EAH spread across sources
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
3
jarvis, materials_project, oqmd
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Mixed (most: R3m (No. 160))
Crystallography
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for SiC, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R3m (No. 160) | trigonal | 2.23 | 0.0000 | -9.666 | 3.23 |
| — | — | 2.15 | 0.0000 | -0.209 | — |
| P63mc (No. 186) | hexagonal | 2.06 | 0.0000 | -0.244 | — |
| F-43m (No. 216) | cubic | 1.62 | 0.0000 | -0.244 | — |
| — | — | 2.03 | 0.0000 | -0.209 | — |
| P63mc (No. 186) | hexagonal | 2.02 | 0.0000 | -9.666 | 3.23 |
| — | — | 1.94 | 0.0000 | -0.209 | — |
| — | — | 2.03 | 0.0000 | -0.209 | — |
| R3m (No. 160) | trigonal | 1.85 | 0.0000 | -9.666 | 3.23 |
| — | — | 2.33 | 0.0000 | -0.209 | — |
| — | — | 2.06 | 0.0000 | -0.209 | — |
| P3m1 (No. 156) | trigonal | 1.81 | 0.0000 | -9.666 | 3.23 |
Intellectual Property
Patent Landscape
303 patents reference SiC or close compositional variants.
| Patent | Title | Assignee | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4804643 | Zirconia ceramic article toughened with SiC whiskers | — | — |
| 6133396 | Highly processable hyperbranched polymer precursors to controlled chemical and phase purity fully dense SiC | — | — |
| 6818557 | Method of forming SiC capped copper interconnects with reduced hillock formation and improved electromigration | — | — |
| 12064814 | Method for manufacturing αFe—SiC composite material, and αFe—SiC composite material | — | — |
| 11718532 | Preparation method of high purity SiC powder | — | — |
| 9552982 | Apparatuses and methods for depositing SiC/SiCN films via cross-metathesis reactions with organometallic co-re | — | — |
| 8177497 | Joint between a metal part and a ceramic part based SiC and/or C | — | — |
| 10269554 | Method for manufacturing SiC epitaxial wafer and SiC epitaxial wafer | — | — |
| 10472714 | Method to obtain SiC class of films of desired composition and film properties | — | — |
| 11969716 | Silicon carbide (SiC)-loaded graphene photocatalyst for hydrogen production under visible light irradiation an | — | — |
Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about SiC, answered from cross-validated data.
What is the band gap of SiC?
SiC has a DFT-computed band gap of 1.18–2.62 eV across 427 reported structures. Standard DFT underestimates band gaps, so the measured gap is typically larger.
More questions
Is SiC a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
DFT predicts a band gap of up to 2.62 eV (a semiconductor). Measured gaps are typically larger.
Is SiC thermodynamically stable?
Yes — SiC sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. stable.
What is the crystal structure of SiC?
The reference structure of SiC is trigonal symmetry, space group R3m (No. 160).
What is the density of SiC?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of SiC is 3.23 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of SiC are known?
427 structures of SiC are reported across 3 databases, spanning 41 distinct space groups.
What elements does SiC contain?
SiC contains C and Si (2 elements).
Where does the data for SiC come from?
SiC data is cross-referenced from materials_project, oqmd, jarvis.
Reading
Related Research
Explore
Related Compounds
Other Silicon Anode Materials in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- 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)
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