Xe
Xenon · Xe
Xenon is a colorless, dense noble gas found in trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere. It is primarily used in specialized lighting, medical imaging, and as a propellant for spacecraft propulsion systems.
Xe
Overview
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Xenon, 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.
6.08–6.24 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)
3 DFT sources
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
40
4 databases, 6 space groups
Crystallography
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Xe, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-3m (No. 166) | trigonal | 6.17 | 0.0000 | -0.036 | 2.54 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 6.19 | 0.0002 | -0.036 | 3.30 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 6.18 | 0.0015 | -0.035 | 3.36 |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | cubic | 6.24 | 0.0019 | -0.034 | 3.25 |
| R-3m (No. 166) | trigonal | 6.23 | 0.0021 | -0.034 | 3.32 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 6.15 | 0.0044 | -0.032 | 2.86 |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 6.21 | 0.0058 | -0.030 | 3.19 |
| R-3m (No. 166) | trigonal | 6.17 | 0.0060 | -0.030 | 2.27 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 6.08 | 0.0219 | -23.862 | 3.03 |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cmce (No. 64) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 2.55 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | Hexagonal | — | — | — | 2.75 |
Uses
Applications
Where Xenon is used.
High-intensity discharge lampsIon thrusters for spacecraftMedical anesthesiaParticle physics detectors
Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Xenon, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Xe?
Xenon is a colorless, dense noble gas found in trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere. It is primarily used in specialized lighting, medical imaging, and as a propellant for spacecraft propulsion systems.
More questions
What is Xe used for?
Xenon (Xe) is used in high-intensity discharge lamps, ion thrusters for spacecraft, medical anesthesia, and particle physics detectors.
What is the band gap of Xe?
Xenon (Xe) has a DFT-computed band gap of 6.08–6.24 eV across 40 reported structures.
Is Xe a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 6.24 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is Xe thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Xenon (Xe) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of Xe?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Xenon (Xe) is trigonal symmetry, space group R-3m (No. 166).
What is the density of Xe?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Xenon (Xe) is 2.54 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of Xe are known?
40 structures of Xe are reported across 4 databases, spanning 6 distinct space groups.
What elements does Xe contain?
Xenon (Xe) contains Xe (1 element).
Where does the data for Xe come from?
Xe data is cross-referenced from materials_project, alexandria, mpaloe, jarvis.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- alexandria — Data from alexandria.
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
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