TePb
Lead telluride · PbTe, Altaite
Lead telluride is a narrow-gap semiconductor material that exhibits significant thermoelectric properties. It is primarily utilized in devices that convert heat directly into electricity or provide solid-state cooling.
Overview
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Lead telluride, 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.
0.10–0.81 eV
Range across DFT structures
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.
On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
83
4 databases, 18 space groups
Crystallography
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for TePb, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.81 | 0.0000 | -41.355 | 7.94 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.10 | 0.0356 | -41.319 | 7.71 |
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 0.72 | 0.0549 | -41.300 | 7.96 |
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 0.80 | 0.0555 | -41.300 | 7.47 |
| Pm-3m (No. 221) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.2279 | -41.127 | 8.67 |
| P2/c (No. 13) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 8.57 |
| P63mc (No. 186) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pm-3m (No. 221) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pnma (No. 62) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 7.47 |
| Pnma (No. 62) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 7.54 |
| Cm (No. 8) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 9.67 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 7.14 |
Uses
Applications
Where Lead telluride is used.
Thermoelectric generatorsInfrared detectorsThermal imaging sensorsRadioisotope thermoelectric generators
Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Lead telluride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is TePb?
Lead telluride is a narrow-gap semiconductor material that exhibits significant thermoelectric properties. It is primarily utilized in devices that convert heat directly into electricity or provide solid-state cooling.
More questions
What is TePb used for?
Lead telluride (TePb) is used in thermoelectric generators, infrared detectors, thermal imaging sensors, and radioisotope thermoelectric generators.
What is the band gap of TePb?
Lead telluride (TePb) has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.10–0.81 eV across 83 reported structures.
Is TePb a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a band gap up to 0.81 eV it is a semiconductor.
Is TePb thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Lead telluride (TePb) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of TePb?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Lead telluride (TePb) is cubic symmetry, space group Fm-3m (No. 225).
What is the density of TePb?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Lead telluride (TePb) is 7.94 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of TePb are known?
83 structures of TePb are reported across 4 databases, spanning 18 distinct space groups.
What elements does TePb contain?
Lead telluride (TePb) contains Pb and Te (2 elements).
Where does the data for TePb come from?
TePb data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, jarvis.
Explore
Related Compounds
Other Lead Chalcogenide Thermoelectrics in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
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