Applications and Uses

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). Although it forms a compound, germanium dioxide, just like silicon, it is generally extracted from the by-products of zinc refining.

Germanium is used mainly for fiber-optic systems and infrared optics. It is also used for polymerization catalysts, electronics, and as phosphors, metallurgy, and chemotherapy. Because germanium dioxide have a high index of refraction and low optical dispersion it is useful for wide-angle camera lenses. As stated before, it is an important semi-conductor so it is used in transistors.