Characteristics of Germanium

Like silicon, germanium is used in the manufacture of semi-conductor devices. Unlike silicon, it is rather rare (only about 1 part in 10 million parts in the earth's crust). The physical and chemical properties of germanium closely parallel those of silicon. Germanium (Ge), has an atomic number of 32. It is grayish-white, lustrous, hard and has similar chemical properties to tin and silicon. Germanium is brittle and silvery-white under standard conditions. Germanium under this condition is known as α-germanium, which has a diamond cubic crystal structure. When germanium is above 120 kilobars, germanium has a different allotrope known as β-germanium. Germanium is one of the few substances like water that expands when it solidifies.

Germanium, a semiconductor, is the first metallic metal to become a superconductor in the presence of strong electromagnetic field.