Optical constants

Refractive index of Ge (Germanium)

Li 1980: n 1.9–18 µm; 250 K

Data
tabulated n
Range
1.9–18 µm
Points
43
Licence
CC0-1.0

Plot

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Range 1.9–18 µm
Refractive index n
3.99333
Extinction coefficient k
0
Permittivity ε1
15.9467
Permittivity ε2
0
Absorption coefficient α
0 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk)
— nm
Abbe number Vd
—
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ
-0.0042 µm⁻¹
Group index ng
4.0179
Group velocity dispersion
— fs²/mm
Dispersion parameter D
— ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy
0.211939 eV

ε = (n + ik)², α = 4πk/λ, ng = n − λ dn/dλ, GVD = λ³/(2πc²) d²n/dλ², D = −(λ/c) d²n/dλ². Group-velocity dispersion is given for formula data only.

Use it in Lightsmith

Load this data in Python, simulate in one more line

pip install lightsmith
import lightsmith as ls

# Ge (Germanium): Li 1980: n 1.9–18 µm; 250 K
ge = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "Ge", "Li-250K", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(ge.range_nm)  # (1900, 18000) nm
eps = ge.eps([5850])  # complex permittivity

Downloads the original record once (pinned to the imported snapshot) and caches it.

Lightsmith is open source (MIT): Mie, T-matrix, BEM, DDA, FDTD, RCWA, TMM, mode solvers and inverse design behind one spec, on CPU or GPU. GitHub.

Comments and conditions

250 K (-23 °C)

References

H. H. Li. Refractive index of silicon and germanium and its wavelength and temperature derivatives. J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 9, 561-658 (1993)
  • doi:10.1063/1.555624 Refractive index of silicon and germanium and its wavelength and temperature derivatives, Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data (1980)

Cite

H. H. Li. Refractive index of silicon and germanium and its wavelength and temperature derivatives. Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, 9, 561-658 (1980), doi:10.1063/1.555624; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

43 rows as published
Ge (Germanium), Li 1980: n 1.9–18 µm; 250 K: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)n
1.94.0907
1.924.0885
1.944.0863
1.964.0842
1.984.0822
2.04.0802
2.054.0755
2.14.0711
2.154.067
2.24.0632
2.254.0597
2.34.0564
2.44.0503
2.54.045
2.64.0402
2.74.036
2.84.0322
2.94.0288
3.04.0257
3.24.0204
3.44.016
3.64.0123
3.84.0092
4.04.0065
4.254.0037
4.54.0013
4.753.9993
5.03.9976
5.53.9948
6.03.9927
6.53.9911
7.03.9898
8.03.9879
9.03.9866
10.03.9856
11.03.9849
12.03.9844
13.03.984
14.03.9837
15.03.9834
16.03.9832
17.03.983
18.03.9829

Optical transmission calculator

Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence
Method
Transmittance T
—
Reflectance R
—

Fresnel reflection calculator

Direction
Rp
—
Rs
—
R = (Rp+Rs)/2
—
Phase φp
—
Phase φs
—
Brewster angle θB
—
Critical angle θC
—