Germanium Products

  • Business Units & Products
Request for Quotation Get More Information Email/Telephone

More Resources

Product PDF

Germanium Metal, Chemicals and Alloys


Germanium optical products including chemicals, blanks, optics and windows are produced by Vital Materials’ infrared business unit and Ge wafers are offered by the semiconductor business unit. Germanium production at Vital Materials is vertically integrated. We are able to refine Ge from a wide variety of raw materials even at a very low level of Ge content (less than 0.3%). Starting with such raw material inputs we produce GeO2 grades for electronic, fast soluble, and catalyst applications. We also produce different grades of GeCl4 used in the optical fiber industry.

We offer recycling services and work closely with customers to improve the recycling of germanium and reduce the cost to treat the waste gases at customer’s site. We can treat waste solutions even at a very low germanium level.

Properties

Germanium is a brittle, silvery-white, semi-metallic element and is one of the few substances that expands as it solidifies from the molten state. It has the same cubic crystal structure as diamond.

It has a high refractive index and is high transparency to infrared radiation. Germanium is a semiconductor and is one of the purest metals on earth (99.99999999999%). Vital Materials can refine up to 13N purity.


Applications

  • Ge is used mainly in 3 applications: optical fiber, infrared optics, and catalyst in PET synthesis.
  • Optical fiber: In the form of GeCl4, GeO2 is deposited in the core of the fiber. GeO2 has a high refractive index and a low optical dispersion.
  • Infrared optics: Ge is used as lenses or windows. It is used in thermal imaging cameras, hot-spot detection mobile night vision applications.
  • Catalyst: GeO2 is used as a catalyst for the synthesis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) used to make bottles. This market is mainly located in Asia.
  • Ge is also used electronic applications such as LEDs.
  • A niche application is ultra-high purity single crystal germanium. This is the most pure metal on earth and is used in gamma radiation detectors.
Recycling is an important source of germanium with the main source being the optical fiber industry. Vital Materials has a great capability to recycle germanium and offers recycling services in close cooperation with our customers.


Germanium Compounds (Click on These Boxes for More Product Info)

GeO2
Germanium(IV)
oxide
GeCl4
Germanium(IV)
chloride

Germanium(IV) oxide - GeO2

CAS #: 1310-53-8
Application: Electronics and Optoelectronics, Rubbers, Plastics, Inks, and Paints, Medical and Pharmaceuticals
Usage: Used for manufacturing high-purity metal germanium, germanium compounds, chemical catalysts, medicine industry, PET resin and electronic devices.

Germanium(IV) chloride - GeCl4

CAS #: 10038-98-9
Application: Communication
Usage: Used as a light-guide fiber dopant and raw material of semiconductor germanium.
Vital Materials is a Germanium manufacturer and end-user supplier as well as producing a full range of other minor metal compounds. We can customize the purity, composition and forms for different industrial applications. Please contact us for a price or more information.