Ta
Tantalum · Ta
Tantalum is a dense, ductile, and highly corrosion-resistant transition metal used extensively in electronics and chemical processing equipment.
About Tantalum
Tantalum is a transition metal characterized by its robust metallic nature and remarkable thermodynamic stability. As a highly reliable material, it remains on the convex hull, indicating its inherent structural integrity under standard conditions.
Its unique physical properties make it indispensable for high-performance engineering. Because it is chemically inert and maintains structural consistency, it is widely utilized in environments where durability and resistance to degradation are paramount.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Tantalum, aggregated across 6 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 Ta. 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 Ta, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P42/mnm (No. 136) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -48.592 | 16.26 |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.248 | — |
| P42/mnm (No. 136) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.013 | — |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.248 | — |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| P-421m (No. 113) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -48.592 | 16.25 |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0001 | 0.000 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0003 | 0.000 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0023 | 0.002 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0026 | 0.003 | — |
Applications
Where Tantalum is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Tantalum, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Ta?
Tantalum is a dense, ductile, and highly corrosion-resistant transition metal used extensively in electronics and chemical processing equipment.
What is Ta used for?
What is the band gap of Ta?
Is Ta a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Ta thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Ta?
What is the density of Ta?
How many polymorphs of Ta are known?
What elements does Ta contain?
Where does the data for Ta come from?
How It Compares
As a pure elemental metal, Tantalum serves as a foundational reference point for high-performance metallic materials, distinguished by its superior resistance to environmental corrosion compared to more reactive transition metals.
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)
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- 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)
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