GeCl4
Germanium tetrachloride · Germanium(IV) chloride
Germanium tetrachloride is a volatile, insulating liquid compound widely utilized as a chemical precursor for manufacturing optical fibers and semiconductor materials.
About Germanium tetrachloride
Germanium tetrachloride is a thermodynamically stable inorganic halide that functions as a wide-gap insulator. It is a highly volatile liquid at room temperature, making it a versatile reagent in chemical vapor deposition processes.
Due to its high purity and chemical reactivity, this compound serves as a fundamental building block in the semiconductor and telecommunications industries. It is essential for the synthesis of germanium-based materials and specialized glass products.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Germanium tetrachloride, aggregated across 3 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of GeCl4. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for GeCl4, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 4.31 | 0.0000 | -1.219 | — |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 4.15 | 0.0000 | -3.824 | 2.27 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 3.74 | 0.0000 | -0.881 | — |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 3.74 | 0.0000 | -0.881 | — |
| — | — | 4.15 | 0.0126 | -1.206 | — |
| — | — | 4.06 | 0.0178 | -1.201 | — |
| — | — | 3.72 | 0.0180 | -1.201 | — |
| — | — | 1.70 | 0.2736 | -0.945 | — |
| — | — | 0.83 | 0.4177 | -0.801 | — |
| P2 (No. 3) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 3.52 |
| Cm (No. 8) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 2.43 |
| Pm (No. 6) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 2.50 |
Applications
Where Germanium tetrachloride is used.
Patent Landscape
2 patents reference GeCl4 or close compositional variants.
| Patent | Title | Assignee | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7682593 | Process for the production of Ge by reduction of GeCl4 with liquid metal | — | — |
| 8486360 | GeCl4 and/or SiCl4 recovery process from optical fibers or glassy residues and process for producing SiCl4 fro | — | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Germanium tetrachloride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is GeCl4?
Germanium tetrachloride is a volatile, insulating liquid compound widely utilized as a chemical precursor for manufacturing optical fibers and semiconductor materials.
What is GeCl4 used for?
What is the band gap of GeCl4?
Is GeCl4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is GeCl4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of GeCl4?
What is the density of GeCl4?
How many polymorphs of GeCl4 are known?
What elements does GeCl4 contain?
Where does the data for GeCl4 come from?
How It Compares
As a primary germanium-based halide, this compound serves as a foundational reference point for the synthesis of high-purity materials, representing a stable and well-characterized chemical species within its class.
Data sources & attribution
- oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database (crystallography.net/cod/). Cite: Grazulis et al., J. Appl. Cryst. 42, 726 (2009). (CC0-1.0)
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