Germanium
material · 1886 · Electric age
The semiconductor of the first transistors.
Inventor: Clemens Winkler.
Where it is used
- Point-contact transistor — is material for. Germanium.
- Thermal camera — is material for. Thermal camera lenses are germanium.
- Bipolar transistor — is material for. The first transistors were germanium.
- Infrared seeker — is material for. The optics of infrared seekers are germanium and sapphire.
What it is a kind of
- Semiconductor — is a kind of. A semiconductor.
Things built in a similar way
- Silicon — works like. Two semiconductors: silicon displaced germanium in transistors thanks to its heat resistance.