SnC
SnC is a semiconducting tin-carbon compound primarily studied for its structural diversity and potential applications in advanced electronic materials.
About SnC
SnC is a binary compound composed of tin and carbon. As a semiconducting material, it represents an interesting intersection of group 14 elements, drawing significant interest from researchers investigating novel thin-film architectures and potential electronic components.
Despite its academic interest, the compound is characterized by its position above the thermodynamic hull, suggesting it is a metastable phase. Its status as a highly studied material is reflected in the extensive number of structural configurations reported across various computational databases.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for SnC, 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 SnC. 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 SnC, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 0.93 | 0.7641 | 0.764 | — |
| — | — | 0.95 | 0.7651 | 0.765 | — |
| F-43m (No. 216) | cubic | 0.75 | 0.7872 | 0.786 | — |
| F-43m (No. 216) | cubic | 0.63 | 0.8178 | -16.529 | 6.60 |
| — | — | 0.00 | 1.2496 | 1.250 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 1.2500 | 1.250 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 1.2709 | 1.269 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 1.2955 | -16.051 | 7.90 |
| P-6m2 (No. 187) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 1.3411 | 1.340 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 1.5911 | 1.591 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 2.0443 | 2.044 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 2.0494 | 2.049 | — |
Applications
Where SnC is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about SnC, answered from cross-validated data.
What is SnC?
SnC is a semiconducting tin-carbon compound primarily studied for its structural diversity and potential applications in advanced electronic materials.
What is SnC used for?
What is the band gap of SnC?
Is SnC a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is SnC thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of SnC?
How many polymorphs of SnC are known?
What elements does SnC contain?
Where does the data for SnC come from?
How It Compares
As a unique binary system within the tin-carbon landscape, SnC serves as a foundational reference point for understanding metastable group 14 semiconductors where traditional bonding patterns are challenged by the distinct atomic radii of its constituents.
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)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
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