wurtzite
Noun: A naturally occurring mineral, typically brownish-black in color, with a hexagonal crystal structure. Its chemical composition is primarily zinc sulfide (ZnS), and it is a less common polymorph of the mineral sphalerite.
Wurtzite is used specifically as a geological and mineralogical term to identify this particular zinc sulfide mineral. - The geologist identified the specimen as wurtzite based on its crystal habit. - Wurtzite and sphalerite have the same chemical formula but different crystal structures.
In materials science, the term wurtzite is also used to describe a specific crystal structure (the wurtzite structure) common to many binary compounds, such as gallium nitride (GaN) or cadmium sulfide (CdS), which share the same hexagonal lattice arrangement as the mineral. - The semiconductor has a wurtzite crystal lattice.
- Wurtzite structure (noun phrase): The specific hexagonal crystal lattice configuration named after the mineral.
- Sphalerite (noun): The more common cubic polymorph of zinc sulfide (ZnS).
- Zinc sulfide (when referring specifically to the ZnS composition, though this term is chemically broader and does not specify the wurtzite polymorph).
This word has a single, highly specialized meaning within geology and crystallography. It does not have general idiomatic or phrasal verb uses.
- a brownish-black mineral consisting of zinc sulfide