Specific heat and entropy of GaN

The specific heat and entropy of (wurtzite) GaN are not well known experimentally. The literature values for C-p (T > 298 K) are based on a fit to an analytic function. The parameters include Cp (298 K) and the melting temperature T-m, both of which were poorly known when the parameters were first determined. The value of C,, (298 K) disagrees with the data measured in the range 5-305 K. Our first-principles calculations allow the values of the parameters to be established and lead to a more accurate prediction of specific heat and entropy of GaN.