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Germanium information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its high purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.

Germanium is a very important semiconductor. Zone-refining techniques have led to production of crystalline germanium for semiconductor use with extremely high purities. When germanium is doped with arsenic, gallium, or other elements, it is used as a transistor element in thousands of electronic applications. The most common use of germanium is as a semiconductor. Germanium is also finding many other applications including use as an alloying agent, as a phosphor in fluorescent lamps, and as a catalyst. Germanium and germanium oxide are transparent to the infrared and are used in infrared spectroscopes and other optical equipment, including extremely sensitive infrared detectors. The high refractive index and dispersion properties of its oxide's have made germanium useful as a component of wide-angle camera lenses and microscope objectives. The field of organo-germanium chemistry is becoming increasingly important. Germanium is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.9999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder.

Germanium facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are

 

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      Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium    
      Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawerencium    


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available for many specific states, forms and shapes on the product pages listed to the left. Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes. Nanoparticles and nanopowders provide ultra high surface area which nanotechnology research and recent experiments demonstrate function to create new and unique properties and benefits.

Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Germanium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.

Germanium is a Block P, Group 14, Period 4 element. The electronic configuration is [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p2. In its elemental form germanium's CAS number is 7440-56-4. The germanium atom has a radius of 122.5.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 200.pm.

All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology advantages. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Germanium compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis.

Germanium was first discovered by Clemens Winkler in 1886.

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Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of germanium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.

Isotope
Atomic Mass
% Abundance on Earth
Ge-70
69.924250
21.23
Ge-72
71.922076
27.66
Ge-73
72.923459
7.73
Ge-74
73.921178
35.94
Ge-76
75.921403
7.44

Safety Data. The safety data for germanium metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin.

Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for germanium (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:

1st Ionization Energy
762.18 kJ mol-1
2nd Ionization Energy
1537.47 kJ mol-1
3rd Ionization Energy
3302.15 kJ mol-1

Conductivity. As to germanium's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 46000000 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 2.01. The thermal conductivity of germanium is 122.5 W m-1 K-1.

Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for germanium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.

Heat of Fusion
34.7 kJ mol-1
Heat of Vaporization
327.6 kJ mol-1
Heat of Atomization
373.8 kJ mol-1

 
Formula Atomic Number Molecular Weight Electronegativity (Pauling) Density Melting Point
Boiling Point
Vanderwaals radius
Ionic radius Energy of first ionization
Ge 32 72.59 g.mol -1 1.8 5.3 g.cm-3 at 20 °C 937 °C 2830 °C 200.pm 0.093 nm (+2) ; 0.054 (+4) 762.18 kJ.mol-1

PRODUCT CATALOG U.S. Operations Submicron & Nanopowder Tolling Ultra High Purity Sputtering Target Crystal Growth Rod, Plate, Powder, etc. Foil
 
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Recent Research & Development for Germanium

  • Can gallium-68 compounds partly replace (18)F-FDG in PET molecular imaging? Pagou M, Zerizer I, Al-Nahhas A. Hell J Nucl Med. 2009 May-Aug;12(2):102-5. PMID: 19675859 [PubMed - in process]

  • Surface-induced crystallization in supercooled tetrahedral liquids. Li T, Donadio D, Ghiringhelli LM, Galli G. Nat Mater. 2009 Aug 9. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19668207 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • A calibration phantom for direct, in vivo measurement of 241Am in the axillary lymph nodes. Zeman R, Lobaugh M, Spitz H, Glover S, Hickman D. Health Phys. 2009 Sep;97(3):219-27. PMID: 19667805 [PubMed - in process]

  • Pressure-dependent metallic and superconducting phases in a germanium artificial metal. Cui HB, Graf D, Brooks JS, Kobayashi H. Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Jun 12;102(23):237001. Epub 2009 Jun 8. PMID: 19658961 [PubMed - in process]

  • Two- and one-dimensional honeycomb structures of silicon and germanium. Cahangirov S, Topsakal M, Aktürk E, Sahin H, Ciraci S. Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Jun 12;102(23):236804. Epub 2009 Jun 12. PMID: 19658958 [PubMed - in process]

  • Disilane chemisorption on Si(x)Ge(1-x)(100)-(2 x 1): molecular mechanisms and implications for film growth rates. Ng RQ, Tok ES, Kang HC. J Chem Phys. 2009 Jul 28;131(4):044707. PMID: 19655909 [PubMed - in process]

  • Electronic properties for small tin clusters Sn(n) (n
  • Submicron fabrication by local anodic oxidation of germanium thin films. Oliveira AB, Medeiros-Ribeiro G, Azevedo A. Nanotechnology. 2009 Aug 26;20(34):345301. Epub 2009 Aug 4. PMID: 19652274 [PubMed - in process]

  • Influence of the drawing process on the defect generation in multistep-index germanium-doped optical fibers. Origlio G, Cannas M, Girard S, Boscaino R, Boukenter A, Ouerdane Y. Opt Lett. 2009 Aug 1;34(15):2282-4. PMID: 19649071 [PubMed - in process]

  • Solution-Processed Germanium Nanocrystal Thin Films as Materials for Low-Cost Optical and Electronic Devices. Holman ZC, Kortshagen UR. Langmuir. 2009 Jul 30. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19642659 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Germanium-73 NMR of amorphous and crystalline GeO(2). Michaelis VK, Aguiar PM, Terskikh VV, Kroeker S. Chem Commun (Camb). 2009 Aug 21;(31):4660-2. Epub 2009 May 27. PMID: 19641801 [PubMed - in process]

  • A Position Sensitive Gamma-Ray Scintillator Detector With Enhanced Spatial Resolution, Linearity and Field of View. Domingo-Pardo C, Goel N, Engert T, Gerl J, Isaka M, Kojouharov I, Schaffner H. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2009 Jul 21. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19628451 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Structural Insight into Germanium-Containing Silicate Species by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) and ESI-MS/MS. Schaack BB, Schrader W, Schu¨th F. J Phys Chem B. 2009 Jul 22. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19624110 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Experimental Detection and Theoretical Characterization of Germanium-Doped Lithium Clusters Li(n)Ge (n = 1-7). Ngan VT, De Haeck J, Le HT, Gopakumar G, Lievens P, Nguyen MT. J Phys Chem A. 2009 Jul 21. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19621914 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Formation and Structures of Germanium(II) Aryloxo/Oxo Clusters. Green RA, Moore C, Rheingold AL, Weinert CS. Inorg Chem. 2009 Jul 20. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19618911 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Retrospection of recent 30-year changes in the process of soil wind erosion in the Luanhe River Source Area of North China using Cesium-137. Chen ZF, Zhao Y, Qiao JJ, Zhang Q, Zhu YE, Xu CH. Appl Radiat Isot. 2009 Jun 21. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19615912 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Measurements of the Carrier Dynamics and Terahertz Response of Oriented Germanium Nanowires using Optical-Pump Terahertz-Probe Spectroscopy. Strait JH, George PA, Levendorf M, Blood-Forsythe M, Rana F, Park J. Nano Lett. 2009 Jul 13. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19594164 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Binding Entropy and Its Application to Solids. Tsirelson VG, Nagy A. J Phys Chem A. 2009 Jul 10. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19591444 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

  • Cyclic oligomer of oxide clusters through a siloxane bond. Synthesis and structure of reaction products of alpha(2)-mono-lacunary Dawson polyoxometalate with tetrachlorosilane and tetraethoxysilane. Kurashina T, Aoki S, Hirasawa R, Hasegawa T, Kasahara Y, Yoshida S, Yoza K, Nomiya K. Dalton Trans. 2009 Jul 28;(28):5542-50. Epub 2009 Jun 5. PMID: 19587998 [PubMed - in process]

  • Experimental study of Brillouin scattering in fluorine-doped single-mode optical fibers. Zou W, He Z, Hotate K. Opt Express. 2008 Nov 10;16(23):18804-12. PMID: 19581969 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

 

 

 

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