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Why is germanium important as a semiconductor?
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carbon group element
Modern version of the periodic table of the elements (printable).
Germanium is a chemical element in the carbon group that played a pivotal role in the early development of electronics. Its importance as a semiconductor stems from the following:1
- Historical Significance: During the early 1950s, germanium was the primary material used for transistors, rectifiers, and photocells. It was the first material to be successfully purified to the extreme degrees required for early semiconductor devices following World War II.213
- Electronic Properties: Like other elemental semiconductors, its electrical conductivity can be precisely controlled through a process called doping, where minute amounts of impurities are added to the crystal lattice.213
- Current Status: While silicon has largely supplanted germanium in most device fabrication due to its lower cost, higher temperature tolerance, and the ability to form a high-quality insulating oxide layer, germanium remains important in specific applications. It is still used in the manufacture of certain electronic components and is valued for its transparency to infrared radiation, making it essential for specialized optical lenses and detectors.231