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Not sure about germanium specifically, but recall the dopants in silicon crystals could be identified by smell, machinists familiar with the smell of phosphorus lamps could identify n type based on this. Can’t find the original source but:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2977642_A_history_of_the_invention_of_the_transistor_and_where_it_will_lead_us
Not sure about germanium specifically, but recall the dopants in silicon crystals could be identified by smell, machinists familiar with the smell of phosphorus lamps could identify n type based on this. Can’t find the original source but:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2977642_A_history_of_the_invention_of_the_transistor_and_where_it_will_lead_us
https://twitter.com/carmichaeljr/status/1595177270959800322
Here’s one reply:
https://twitter.com/carmichaeljr/status/1595177270959800322