What is Germanium?
Germanium is a chemical element with symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon. Pure germanium is a semiconductor with an appearance similar to elemental silicon. Like silicon, germanium naturally reacts and forms complexes with oxygen in nature.
Germanium's unique characteristics include its transparency to near infrared electromagnetic radiation, its high refractive index, and its low optical dispersion.
The metalloid is also intrinsically semiconductive. It is a rare, silver-colored semiconductor metal that is used in infrared technology, fiber optic cables, and solar cells.
Because it seldom appears in high concentration, germanium was discovered comparatively late in the history of chemistry. Germanium ranks near fiftieth in relative abundance of the elements in the Earth's crust.
"Germanium" first proposed to exist by Dmitri Mendeleyev in 1871 based on gaps in his newly created Periodic Table of Elements, germanium was discovered by the German chemist Clemens Winkler in the mineral argyrodite (Ag8GeS6) in 1886.
Today, germanium is primarily obtained from the smelting of zinc ores and from the byproducts of burning certain types of coal. The largest use of germanium is in the semiconductor industry.
When doped with small amounts of arsenic, gallium, indium, antimony or phosphorus, germanium is used to make transistors for use in electronic devices. Germanium is also used to create alloys and as a phosphor in fluorescent lamps.
Both germanium and germanium oxide (GeO) are transparent to infrared radiation and are used in infrared optical instruments and infrared detectors. Some germanium compounds seem to be effective in killing some types of bacteria and are currently being studied for use in chemotherapy.
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