Why are Devices...

crutschow said:

How do you mean "melted". The germanium is in a can where you can't see it.

But they can be more easily damaged than a silicon transistor with too much soldering heat.

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My confusion is caused by the fact that a material that melts at over 900C can be easily damaged by soldering. My understanding of soldering damage is that the junction melts, hence, my use of the term "melted".

Maybe someone can explain how a Germanium device is damaged by soldering.

Mike.

Is that the temperature of pure germanium?, it's doped in a transistor, does that seriously lower the melting point?.

Pommie said:

My confusion is caused by the fact that a material that melts at over 900C can be easily damaged by soldering. My understanding of soldering damage is that the junction melts, hence, my use of the term "melted".

Maybe someone can explain how a Germanium device is damaged by soldering.

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To damage a transistor you don't have to heat it to the melting point, only to the point where the junction doping profile is changed (it's the precise doping of the junctions with selected impurities that turns a piece of semiconductor into a p or n type and then into a transistor). This can occur at a much lower temperature than the melting point for the material.