Sm2O3
Samarium(III) oxide · Samaria
Samarium(III) oxide is a stable, insulating rare-earth compound widely used in the production of specialized optical glass and electronic components.
About Samarium(III) oxide
Samarium(III) oxide is a robust, thermodynamically stable compound that exists as a wide-gap insulator. Its chemical resilience and electronic properties make it a vital material in the rare-earth oxide family, frequently utilized in high-performance technical fields.
Due to its structural versatility, this compound is highly regarded in research and industrial sectors. It is primarily valued for its ability to modify the refractive index of glass and serve as a precursor for other samarium-based materials.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Samarium(III) 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 Sm2O3. 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 Sm2O3, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 3.98 | 0.0000 | -3.701 | — |
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | cubic | 3.88 | 0.0000 | -3.672 | — |
| Ia-3 (No. 206) | cubic | 3.78 | 0.0000 | -8.718 | 7.08 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 3.83 | 0.0075 | -3.664 | — |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | trigonal | 4.07 | 0.0117 | -3.660 | — |
| — | — | 4.14 | 0.0118 | -3.689 | — |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 3.84 | 0.0137 | -8.704 | 7.74 |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | trigonal | 3.93 | 0.0170 | -8.701 | 7.88 |
| — | — | 4.09 | 0.0331 | -3.668 | — |
| — | — | 4.30 | 0.0378 | -3.663 | — |
| — | — | 2.69 | 0.0989 | -3.602 | — |
| — | — | 1.84 | 0.2075 | -3.494 | — |
Applications
Where Samarium(III) oxide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Samarium(III) oxide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Sm2O3?
Samarium(III) oxide is a stable, insulating rare-earth compound widely used in the production of specialized optical glass and electronic components.
What is Sm2O3 used for?
What is the band gap of Sm2O3?
Is Sm2O3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Sm2O3 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Sm2O3?
What is the density of Sm2O3?
How many polymorphs of Sm2O3 are known?
What elements does Sm2O3 contain?
Where does the data for Sm2O3 come from?
How It Compares
As a prominent member of the rare-earth oxide group, Samarium(III) oxide is recognized for its exceptional thermodynamic stability and structural diversity, positioning it as a reliable standard for insulation and optical applications within this class of materials.
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)
- 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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