FeTe
Iron telluride · Iron(II) telluride
FeTe is a metallic, metastable iron telluride compound used extensively as a parent material for research into iron-based superconductivity.

About Iron telluride
FeTe is a metallic iron-based compound that serves as a foundational material in the study of unconventional superconductivity. As a metastable phase, it provides a critical platform for investigating the complex interplay between magnetism and electronic structure in chalcogenide systems.
Its significance lies in its structural versatility, which allows researchers to tune its properties through chemical substitution or pressure. This compound is primarily utilized in solid-state physics research to better understand the mechanisms governing high-temperature superconducting states in related materials.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Iron 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.
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 FeTe. 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 FeTe, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P4/nmm (No. 129) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0765 | -6.077 | 7.00 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.1838 | -5.969 | 8.22 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 4.93 |
| P4/nmm (No. 129) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P4/nmm (No. 129) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 3.67 |
| P4/nmm (No. 129) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 6.09 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 6.35 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 6.10 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 7.38 |
Applications
Where Iron telluride is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Iron telluride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is FeTe?
FeTe is a metallic, metastable iron telluride compound used extensively as a parent material for research into iron-based superconductivity.
What is FeTe used for?
What is the band gap of FeTe?
Is FeTe a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is FeTe thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of FeTe?
What is the density of FeTe?
How many polymorphs of FeTe are known?
What elements does FeTe contain?
Where does the data for FeTe come from?
How It Compares
Within the iron-based superconductors class.
Within the family of iron-based superconductors, FeTe occupies a distinct position compared to FeSe. While FeSe is widely recognized for its superconducting properties at ambient pressure, FeTe often requires specific doping or structural modifications to exhibit similar behaviors, reflecting its unique metastable nature and different magnetic ground state.
Related Compounds
Other Iron-Based Superconductors 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).
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
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