Post-transition metal defined transition elements as finishing at group 10 (nickel, palladium and platinum), therefore excluding group 11 (copper, silver and gold), and group 12 (zinc, cadmium and mercury). A survey of chemistry books in 2003 showed that the transition metals ended at either group 11 or group 12 with roughly equal frequency. Where the post-transition metals end depends on where the metalloids or nonmetals start. Boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony and tellurium are commonly recognised as metalloids; other authors treat some or all of these elements as nonmetals. The diminished metallic nature of the post-transition metals is largely attributable to the
Silicon-germanium spacecraft. Silicon germanium thermoelectric devices were also used in other MHW-RTGs and GPHS-RTGs aboard Cassini, Galileo, Ulysses, and Flight Units F-1 and F-4. Silicon-germanium SiGe ( or ), or silicon-germanium, is an alloy with any molar ratio of silicon and germanium, i.e. with a molecular formula of the form SiGe. It is commonly used as a semiconductor material in integrated circuits (ICs) for heterojunction bipolar transistors or as a strain-inducing layer for CMOS transistors. IBM introduced the technology into mainstream manufacturing in 1989. This relatively new technology offers opportunities in mixed-signal circuit and analog circuit IC design and manufacture. SiGe