Gallium is indispensable for microelectronics and optoelectronics. The metal is combined with arsenic to produce semiconductors, which are required for the manufacture of high-performance chips as well as solar cells and light-emitting and laser diodes. Gallium is also used in copper indium gallium selenide solar cells (CIGS). In the form of a gallium-indium-tin eutectic, it is also used as a mercury substitute for clinical thermometers. Gallium alloys with iron, Yttriumlithium, magnesium and Gadolinium give materials magnetic properties.
