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Gallium and Indium

LED lighting, solar power and lasers are just some of the electronics revolutionised by two obscure and surprisingly soft metallic elements - gallium and indium.

LED lighting, solar power and lasers are just some of the electronics revolutionised by two obscure chemical elements - gallium and indium. Presenter Laurence Knight hears from Mike Simpson of Philips why we will only need to replace our lightbulbs once every two decades. He also travels to Sheffield University where research centre head Jon Heffernan explains what on earth III-V materials are and why making an LED is like baking a pizza. Meanwhile chemistry stalwart Prof Andrea Sella of UCL demonstrates these two metals' surprisingly buttery melt-in-the-mouth properties.

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27 minutes

Last on

Mon 7 Mar 2016 01:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 5 Mar 2016 22:32GMT
  • Sun 6 Mar 2016 05:06GMT
  • Sun 6 Mar 2016 11:06GMT
  • Sun 6 Mar 2016 14:06GMT
  • Mon 7 Mar 2016 01:32GMT

Podcast