SnS
Tin monosulfide · Tin(II) sulfide, Herzenbergite
Tin monosulfide is a semiconductor material composed of tin and sulfur that naturally occurs as the mineral herzenbergite. Due to its favorable optical and electrical properties, it is widely researched for use in sustainable thin-film solar cells and optoelectronic devices.

Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Tin monosulfide, aggregated across 4 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.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for SnS, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 0.90 | 0.0000 | -16.862 | 4.90 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.31 | 0.0285 | -16.834 | 5.07 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 1.13 | 0.0762 | -16.786 | 3.94 |
| Aem2 (No. 39) | orthorhombic | 1.46 | 0.0782 | -16.784 | 2.67 |
| Aem2 (No. 39) | orthorhombic | 1.67 | 0.0787 | -16.783 | 1.31 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | triclinic | 1.43 | 0.0852 | -16.777 | 2.76 |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.09 | 0.0916 | -16.771 | 5.10 |
| F-43m (No. 216) | cubic | 0.17 | 0.2784 | -16.584 | 3.60 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 3.84 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 3.38 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 5.18 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 3.71 |
Applications
Where Tin monosulfide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Tin monosulfide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is SnS?
Tin monosulfide is a semiconductor material composed of tin and sulfur that naturally occurs as the mineral herzenbergite. Due to its favorable optical and electrical properties, it is widely researched for use in sustainable thin-film solar cells and optoelectronic devices.
What is SnS used for?
What is the band gap of SnS?
Is SnS a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is SnS thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of SnS?
What is the density of SnS?
How many polymorphs of SnS are known?
What elements does SnS contain?
Where does the data for SnS come from?
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
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