Germanium semiconductor properties

A major and growing use of the minor metalloids is in semiconductor fabrication. Germanium, like silicon, exhibits semiconductor properties. Binary compounds between elements of Groups 13 and 15 also act as semiconductors. These 13-15 compounds, such as GaAs and InSb, have the same number of valence electrons as Si or Ge. The energy gap between the valence band and the conduction band of a 13-15 semiconductor can be varied by changing the relative amounts of the two components. This allows the properties of 13-15 semiconductors to be fine-tuned. 

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An interesting avenue for investigation is to examine the adsorption characteristics on single crystals concurrently with electrical measurements. Thus, any relationship which possibly exists between the slow states and the chemisorption might be positively revealed. Examination of the adsorption characteristics of reduced germanium crystals and the effect of the fast states would also be of interest. These studies have been initiated. It remains clear at this time, however, that the semiconductor properties of the germanium influence the surface properties of the thin oxide films supported thereon. The influence is clear in the case of propanol adsorption and the differences are even more dramatic in the case of water adsorption. 

Also, of course, there was always the icy grip of cumbersome liquid or compressed gaseous helium that the materials had to be held in if they were to superconduct. Try as they might, researchers could not get the transition temperature of all their materials up to easily manageable levels. By 1973, although several hundred materials were known to superconduct, the best that scientists were able to achieve was a Tc of 23.2° K (-418° F] with a compound of three parts niobium and one of germanium, the latter a hard metalloid with, ironically, semiconductor properties. 

Doping The intentional introduction of traces of group III or group V elements to increase the semiconductor properties of a silicon or germanium crystal. 

The fortuitous combination of absorption coefficient, semiconductor properties and availability in a suitably pure state provides us with germanium as the predominant material for high-resolution gamma-ray detectors. 

It is virtually impossible to imagine what modern society would be like if no one had ever discovered the semiconductor properties of silicon and germanium. 

Modern electronic devices use the semiconductor properties of materials such as silicon or germanium. The atoms of pure silicon or germanium are arranged in a lattice structure, as shown in Fig. 3.81. The outer electron orbits contain four electrons known as valence electrons. These electrons are all linked to other valence electrons from adjacent atoms, forming a covalent bond. There are no free electrons in pure silicon or germanium and, therefore, no conduction can take place unless the bonds are broken and the lattice framework is destroyed. 

Germanium was the semiconductor material used in the development of the transistor in the early 1950s. However, it exhibits high junction leakage current due to its narrow bandgap and is now largely replaced by silicon. It is a brittle metalloid element with semiconductor characteristics. The properties of germanium are summarized in Table 8.3.1 lP l... 

The relatively large band gaps of silicon and germanium limit their usefulness in electrical devices. Fortunately, adding tiny amounts of other elements that have different numbers of valence electrons alters the conductive properties of these solid elements. When a specific impurity is added deliberately to a pure substance, the resulting material is said to be doped. A doped semiconductor has almost the same band stmeture as the pure material, but it has different electron nonulations in its bands. 

As we can see from the last entry in this table, we have deduced only a rule. In InBi there are Bi-Bi contacts and it has metallic properties. Further examples that do not fulfill the rule are LiPb (Pb atoms surrounded only by Li) and K8Ge46. In the latter, all Ge atoms have four covalent bonds they form a wide-meshed framework that encloses the K+ ions (Fig. 16.26, p. 188) the electrons donated by the potassium atoms are not taken over by the germanium, and instead they form a band. In a way, this is a kind of a solid solution, with germanium as solvent for K+ and solvated electrons. K8Ge46 has metallic properties. In the sense of the 8-A rule the metallic electrons can be captured in K8Ga8Ge38, which has the same structure, all the electrons of the potassium are required for the framework, and it is a semiconductor. In spite of the exceptions, the concept has turned out to be very fruitful, especially in the context of understanding the Zintl phases. 

Semiconductors. In Sections 2.4.1, 4.5 and 5.10.4 basic physical and electrochemical properties of semiconductors are discussed so that the present paragraph only deals with practically important electrode materials. The most common semiconductors are Si, Ge, CdS, and GaAs. They can be doped to p- or n-state, and used as electrodes for various electrochemical and photoelectrochemical studies. Germanium has also found application as an infrared transparent electrode for the in situ infrared spectroelectrochemistry, where it is used either pure or coated with thin transparent films of Au or C (Section 5.5.6). The common disadvantage of Ge and other semiconductors mentioned is their relatively high chemical reactivity, which causes the practical electrodes to be almost always covered with an oxide (hydrated oxide) film. 

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