What are gallium and germanium for, of which China wants to reduce exports

They are called gallium and germanium, in honor of France and Germany respectively. But their existence was foreseen by a Russian, and now it’s China trying to exploit its near-monopoly in their production to try and get the West by the neck.

Gallium, atomic number 31, was isolated in 1875 from the French Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, who also dedicated it not only to his country but also to himself, with a game of paole: in fact Lecoq also means “the rooster”. Germanium, atomic number 32, was instead identified by German Clemens Winkler in 1886. But both had been foreseen in 1871 by Dmitry Mendeleev in constructing that “periodic table of elements” where the elements themselves are divided into “periods”, i.e. horizontal lines. Each column forms a group with an analogous chemical behavior and above the aluminum and silicon, atomic numbers 13 and 14, there should have been two elements with numbers 31 and 32 that hadn’t actually been found yetbut which he baptized provisionally ekaluminium and ekasilicon.

At the time, therefore, their importance was eminently theoretical. But since the 60s, gallium arsenide has been used as bandgap semiconductor (i.e., capable of blocking electrons from an energy range). It is therefore in digital and analog integrated circuits and in optoelectronic devices, come on TV and smartphone screens to radars and solar panels; but also in mirrors very bright, because it adheres to glass and porcelain; it is a component of low melting point alloys; stands in catalysts; it’s used in nuclear medicine for the localization of tumors neuroendocrine…

In turn, germanium is used extensively for infraredto which it reacts very efficiently, and the high refractive index with low optical dispersion of its oxide make it especially useful in the lenses of wide-angle camera lensesin microscopy and for the central nucleus of optical fibers. Maybe not quite at the heart of its importance but as a curiosity: germanium transistors are still used in the construction of some guitar effects pedals. Above all, however, the silicon germaniride alloy (SiGe) is rapidly becoming an important material here too semiconductor for use in high-speed integrated circuits, much faster than those that use only silicon. we also find it in eyeglasses and in solar cells responsible for feeding most of the satellites in orbit today.

China produces between 60 and 83 percent of the world’s available germanium and between 80 and 94 percent of the gallium. And since August 1, the Beijing government has announced the imminent reduction of exports of both metalsas well as their chemical compounds, for which exporters will have to request and receive a special license from the Ministry of Commercewhich must be constantly updated not only on the commercial operations carried out, but also on the data of all foreign buyers.

Officially, it is for “protecting China’s national security”. In fact, it is a response to the restrictions that America had already announced in October 2022to cut exports of key semiconductors, and prevent the People’s Liberation Army from overcoming US military supremacy using its own US-made technology. A decision which was followed by various European countries, including in particular the Netherlands, which on June 30 imposed export restrictions on chip-making machinery. In particular of its technology champion ASML: the only machine maker in the world using extreme ultraviolet lithography to make advanced semiconductor chips

They are “critical, essential metals for our industry, especially for their use in strategic sectors and also due to the fact that we are dependent on a single supplier” now denounces the European Commission. The US should respond by imposing uFurther restrictions on Chinese companies’ access to cloud computing services. Amazon and Microsoft, may need to seek government clearance whenever they provide services to Chinese companies.