Chain

Germanium Crystals, Wafers & Optics

Crystal growth, wafering, and blank fabrication turn refined germanium into substrates for space solar cells and blanks for thermal-imaging optics - the last germanium-defined products of the chain.

Facts on this page last re-verified Aug 15, 2026 — the oldest verification date among its current claims. How we verify.

Stage diagram

US capacity at this tier concentrates in single named plants per product: a germanium wafer producer in St. George, Utah and IR-optics blank fabrication at a small number of sites (USGS MCS 2026, Germanium chapter, p. 88). Defense demand for thermal imaging makes this the tier where supply disruption binds first.

Materials at this stage: Refined Germanium Metal, Germanium Bulk Crystal, Germanium Wafer, Germanium Optical Blank

Facility-line flow trace

Facility / line	Location	Stage and derived state	Input → output
5N Plus St. George germanium refinery Germanium zone-refining line	St. George, Utah United States	High purity refining Operating	Germanium Leach Concentrate → Refined Germanium Metal
Indium Corporation Rome metals operation Germanium pure-metal line	Rome, New York United States	High purity refining Operating	Germanium Leach Concentrate → Refined Germanium Metal
Lattice Materials Bozeman germanium plant Germanium scrap-to-metal line	Bozeman, Montana United States	Recycling Announced	Germanium-Bearing Scrap → Refined Germanium Metal
Lattice Materials Bozeman germanium plant Optical-grade germanium crystal line	Bozeman, Montana United States	Crystal substrate Operating	Refined Germanium Metal → Germanium Bulk Crystal, Germanium Optical Blank
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium recycling line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	Recycling Operating	Germanium-Bearing Scrap → Refined Germanium Metal
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium zone-refining line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	High purity refining Operating	Germanium Leach Concentrate → Refined Germanium Metal
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium tetrachloride line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	Compound chemicals Operating	Refined Germanium Metal → Germanium Tetrachloride
Umicore Quapaw germanium materials plant Germanium crystal and optical-material line	Quapaw, Oklahoma United States	Crystal substrate Operating	Refined Germanium Metal → Germanium Bulk Crystal, Germanium Optical Blank
Umicore Olen germanium complex Germanium recycling and refining line	Olen, Antwerp Belgium	Recycling Operating	Germanium-Bearing Scrap → Refined Germanium Metal
Umicore Olen germanium complex High-purity germanium chemicals line	Olen, Antwerp Belgium	Compound chemicals Operating	Refined Germanium Metal → Germanium Tetrachloride, Germanium Dioxide
Umicore Olen germanium complex Germanium crystal and substrate line	Olen, Antwerp Belgium	Crystal substrate Operating	Refined Germanium Metal → Germanium Bulk Crystal, Germanium Wafer
Akita Rare Metals gallium and germanium operation Germanium recycling line	Akita, Akita Japan	Recycling Operating	Germanium-Bearing Scrap → Refined Germanium Metal

Sources

U.S. Geological Survey · published Feb 1, 2026 · retrieved Aug 15, 2026 · archive unavailable: Wayback capture queued at record creation 2026-08-15; archive verification deferred to a weekly pass