Germanium

Germanium is a chemical element with symbol Ge and atomic number 32. Its semiconducting behavior and transparency to infrared radiation make it useful in electronics and optics.

Germanium Transistor: A transistor made from germanium semiconductor material, widely used in early electronics. Germanium enabled compact amplification and switching before silicon became dominant.
Semiconductor: A material whose electrical conductivity lies between that of a conductor and an insulator and can be controlled. Germanium is an elemental semiconductor whose conductivity changes with temperature and doping.
Dmitri Mendeleev: A Russian chemist who formulated the periodic law and published an early periodic table of the elements. Mendeleev predicted an undiscovered element with properties later matched by germanium.
Silicon: A chemical element with symbol Si and atomic number 14, widely used in semiconductor devices. Silicon displaced germanium in most electronics because it performs better at higher temperatures and forms a useful oxide.
Transistor: A semiconductor device that amplifies or switches electronic signals. Germanium made practical early transistors possible and helped launch solid-state electronics.
Fiber-Optic Communication: The transmission of information as light pulses through optical fibers. Germanium dioxide raises the refractive index of silica in many optical fibers.
Band Gap: The energy range in a solid where no electron states are available. Germanium’s narrow band gap helps determine its electrical and infrared behavior.
Eka-Silicon: Mendeleev’s provisional name for the predicted element below silicon, later identified as germanium. Its predicted properties provided a striking test of the periodic table.
Gallium Arsenide: A compound semiconductor made from gallium and arsenic, used in high-speed electronics and optoelectronics. Gallium arsenide offers different speed and light-emission advantages from elemental germanium.
Integrated Circuit: An electronic circuit whose components are fabricated together on a semiconductor substrate. The shift from germanium to silicon helped establish the material platform used for modern integrated circuits.

Linked from 13 pages