Explain Atomic structure and Energy Band Diagram of Germanium.

Germanium: This is one of the most common semiconductor material utilized in the application in electronics. The atomic number is 32. The no. of electrons in the first, second, third and fourth orbit are 2, 8, 18and 4. This is clear that germanium atom has four valence electrons into the outermost orbit. This is termed as tetravalent element. The germanium atoms are held together by covalent bonds. The forbidden gap into this material is extremely small 0.7ev. Therefore small energy is sufficient to lift the electrons from valence to conduction band.

Atomic structure of Germanium                        Energy Band Diagram of Germanium