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While solid-state materials are commonly classified as covalent, ionic, ormetallic, there are cases that defy these iconic bonding mechanisms. Aprominent example is given by phase-change materials (PCMs) for data storage orphotonics, which have recently been argued to show 'resonant' bonding; a cleardefinition of this mechanism, however, has been lacking until the present day.Here we show that these solids are clearly different from resonant bonding inthe pi-orbital systems of benzene and graphene. Instead, they exhibit a uniquemechanism between covalent and metallic bonding, which we call 'metavalent'bonding. The materials are on the verge of electron delocalization, whichexplains their exceptional property portfolio, and we therefore argue that theyrepresent 'incipient metals'. This yields deeper, fundamental insight into thebonding nature of solid-state materials, and is expected to accelerate thediscovery and design of new functional materials including PCMs andthermoelectrics.

Incipient Metals: Functional Materials with a Unique Bonding Mechanism