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Ge-76 is a stable isotope of the chemical element germanium (Ge) with a mass number of 76. It has 32 protons and 44 neutrons, and is one of the five naturally occurring stable germanium isotopes: Ge-70, Ge-72, Ge-73, Ge-74, and Ge-76. In natural germanium, Ge-76 accounts for about 7.8 percent of the isotopic composition.

Ge-76 occurs in germanium-bearing minerals and is present in refined germanium metal. It is not radioactive and has no finite half-life. The isotope is chemically indistinguishable from other germanium isotopes, but its higher mass makes it desirable for certain detector applications when enriched to high isotopic purity.

Enriched Ge-76 is widely used in the field of nuclear and particle physics. High-purity germanium detectors enriched in Ge-76 provide excellent energy resolution for gamma-ray spectroscopy. These detectors are built from crystals containing a large fraction of Ge-76, enabling sensitive measurements in dark matter searches and double beta decay experiments.

Ge-76 is a candidate nucleus for studying neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ). Observing 0νββ in Ge-76 would have implications for the nature of neutrinos and lepton number conservation. Experiments such as GERDA, the Majorana Demonstrator, and the LEGEND project have deployed or plan to deploy enriched Ge-76 detectors to search for this process.

See also: germanium, isotopes, neutrinoless double beta decay, GERDA, LEGEND, Majorana Demonstrator.