Crystal Lab › Semiconductors & layered solids
Hexagonal boron nitride BN
Layered (graphite-like) · space group P-6 (No. 174) · Z = 2
Symmetry elements and Wyckoff positions (interactive)
Hexagonal boron nitride in P-6
SettingLoading the group…
x = 0.10, y = 0.17, z = 0.08
Unit cell
- Lattice constants
- a = 2.510 Å, b = 2.510 Å, c = 6.690 Å; α = 90°, β = 90°, γ = 120°
- Cell volume
- 36.5 ų
- Atoms in the cell
- 4 (B 2, N 2)
- Formula units Z
- 2
- Calculated density
- 2.26 g cm⁻³
- Shortest contact
- 1.449 Å
Coordination
- B
- CN 3 at 1.45 Å (3 N)
- N
- CN 3 at 1.45 Å (3 B)
About the structure
- Flat hexagonal B–N layers like graphite, but stacked so that B sits over N: the layers are polar and the solid is a wide-gap insulator ("white graphite").
- A lubricant and a substrate for 2D electronics; cubic BN (sphalerite-type) is the second-hardest material known.
- Coordinates from the Crystallography Open Database, entry 1010602 (open data); hydrogen and water sites with partial occupancy below 0.5 are left out.
Atom positions (fractional, one cell)
| Atom | x | y | z |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 0.0000 | 0.0000 | 0.5000 |
| B | 0.3333 | 0.6667 | 0.0000 |
| N | 0.0000 | 0.0000 | 0.0000 |
| N | 0.6667 | 0.3333 | 0.5000 |
Z, coordination numbers, distances, density and packing on this page are computed from these coordinates.
Other semiconductors & layered solids
Silicon carbide (6H polytype)SiC · Polytype of the diamond frameworkBismuth selenideBi₂Se₃ · Layered chalcogenideMarcasiteFeS₂ · Polymorph of pyriteChalcopyriteCuFeS₂ · Ordered zinc-blende derivative
Open Hexagonal boron nitride in the 3D viewer → · All structures