GeH4
Germane · Germanium tetrahydride
Germane is a stable, gaseous germanium hydride widely utilized as a chemical precursor for the production of semiconductor materials and thin films.
About Germane
Germane is a volatile inorganic hydride consisting of a central germanium atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms. As a thermodynamically stable compound, it serves as a critical gaseous source of high-purity germanium for advanced material synthesis. Its insulating electronic character makes it a specialized reagent in chemical vapor deposition rather than a functional electronic material itself. The compound is widely recognized for its role in the epitaxial growth of silicon-germanium alloys, which are essential for high-speed microelectronics. Its stability allows for precise control during the manufacturing of complex semiconductor architectures.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Germane, aggregated across 4 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 GeH4. 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 GeH4, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P212121 (No. 19) | orthorhombic | 5.93 | 0.0000 | -3.676 | 1.52 |
| P2/c (No. 13) | monoclinic | 6.64 | 0.0080 | -3.668 | 1.21 |
| — | — | 5.80 | 0.1173 | 0.117 | — |
| — | — | 6.15 | 0.1290 | 0.129 | — |
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | 1.14 | 0.1502 | -3.526 | 2.17 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.2203 | -3.456 | 2.94 |
| Pmma (No. 51) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.2232 | -3.453 | 3.00 |
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | 1.55 | 0.2413 | 0.240 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.3021 | 0.301 | — |
| Cmmm (No. 65) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.3692 | -3.307 | 1.91 |
| — | — | 1.59 | 0.3899 | 0.390 | — |
| Cmmm (No. 65) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.4779 | 0.477 | — |
Applications
Where Germane is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Germane, answered from cross-validated data.
What is GeH4?
Germane is a stable, gaseous germanium hydride widely utilized as a chemical precursor for the production of semiconductor materials and thin films.
What is GeH4 used for?
What is the band gap of GeH4?
Is GeH4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is GeH4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of GeH4?
What is the density of GeH4?
How many polymorphs of GeH4 are known?
What elements does GeH4 contain?
Where does the data for GeH4 come from?
Related Research
How It Compares
As a primary hydride in its chemical family, germane functions as the foundational germanium-based precursor for thin-film technology, representing the standard gaseous delivery method for incorporating germanium into solid-state devices.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- 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)
- 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.
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