Amorphous germanium carbides have been prepared by X-ray activated chemical vapordeposition from germane/ethyne systems. The materials composition is found to changedepending on the ethyne percentage in the irradiated mixture. The bonding and the structureof the compounds so obtained were investigated by infrared spectroscopy and the opticalgap values have been determined from UV-vis spectra. The variation of optical gap valuesas a function of carbon content is discussed.