Germanium tetrafluoride (GeF4) has broad application prospects. Local companies still need to increase their research and development efforts on electronic-grade germanium tetrafluoride.

Germanium tetrafluoride is an inorganic compound with the molecular formula GeF4. It looks like a colorless gas and has a pungent garlic smell. It is soluble in water and can corrode mercury and grease. It is used in semiconductors, optics, chemistry, materials science and other fields. widely.

There are various production methods for germanium tetrafluoride, including the halogen exchange method, which uses antimony fluoride and germanium tetrachloride as raw materials and produces germanium tetrafluoride through chemical reactions; the thermal decomposition method refers to using germanium hexafluoride. The method of using acid salt as the raw material, heating it to about 700°C in a quartz tube and decomposing it to obtain germanium tetrafluoride; the direct fluorination method refers to the method of using metal germanium and fluorine gas as raw materials, and directly fluorinating it to generate germanium tetrafluoride. . The most commonly used production method of germanium tetrafluoride is the halogen exchange method.

Germanium tetrafluoride is an important type of inorganic compound. In the field of semiconductors, it is mainly used in doping and ion implantation. Germanium tetrafluoride can be combined with disilane gas to directly create silicon germanium microcrystals on a glass substrate. It is used to manufacture semiconductor devices such as low-noise and low-temperature amplifiers, rectifiers, and oscillators; in the field of optics, germanium tetrafluoride can be used as an additive in optical glass manufacturing scenarios, playing a role in improving the refractive index and dispersion properties of optical glass, and can also be used as a raw material Used in optical fiber and optical film manufacturing scenarios.

According to the “China’s Germanium Tetrafluoride (GeF4) Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report 2023-2027” released by the Industrial Research Center shows that semiconductors are the main application field of germanium tetrafluoride. Under the background of the booming global semiconductor industry, the market demand for germanium tetrafluoride is continuing to increase. Manufacturing semiconductor devices requires electronic-grade germanium tetrafluoride with high purity, and its purity generally needs to be above the 5N level. Electronic-grade germanium tetrafluoride has high technical barriers. Currently, global production capacity is mainly concentrated in the hands of companies in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan, including the German Linde Group, the American Entegris, the American Gelest, the Belgian Umicore, and the Japanese Chuo Glass.

The production capacity of electronic grade germanium tetrafluoride in my country is relatively low. The main manufacturers of germanium tetrafluoride include Guangxi Hangyu Technology, CSSC (Handan) Perry Special Gases, Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry, Anhui Shengquan Optoelectronic Materials, and Hefei Heyue Industrial Gas, Yuanqianjiang Electronic Special Gas, Anhui Chuanglian New Energy, etc. Among them, Yunnan Germanium Industry is actively developing electronic-grade germanium tetrachloride. The project has now entered the pilot stage and is expected to accelerate the realization of large-scale mass production in the future.

Industrial analysts personnel said that germanium tetrafluoride is an important inorganic compound in semiconductors and optics. , has broad application prospects in the chemical industry. From the perspective of the domestic market, as the global semiconductor industry continues to shift to China, the market demand for germanium tetrafluoride in my country is increasing. However, the electronic-grade germanium tetrafluoride used in this field has not yet achieved a technological breakthrough and is still dependent on Due to imports, local related companies will need to continue to increase their research and development efforts on electronic grade germanium tetrafluoride in the future.