In our modern world gallium is used everywhere, and modern life would be unrecognizable without the benefits it provides.
As you are reading this, the nearest gallium (Ga) atoms are most likely found inside the computing device that is withinyour arm’s reach. WiFi and Bluetooth devices inside today’s laptops, cell phones, and tablets use gallium arsenide (GaAs) semiconductors that utilize its properties to build radio frequency integrated circuits. In recent years, chargers for mobile devices have become much smaller while also providing more power and faster charging cycles because they use gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor chips.
元素形式的鎵熔點接近 30°C，在室溫剛好是液態。與铟合金化後，熔點低於室溫，加入錫後則進一步降低。在需要室溫下液態金屬的應用中，鎵合金系列的低熔點使其成為無毒的汞替代品。液態金屬在需要將熱量傳離熱半導體晶片的熱介面應用上，研究越來越多。
當與 III-V 族半導體 (砷化鎵、氮化鎵、磷化鎵及其他) 結合時，這些材料的電子與光學特性使其優於矽，儘管成本較高。儘管鎵基半導體的電子帶結構可提供更高的開關速度，但任何商業應用都必須在這一點與較低的矽集成成本之間取得平衡，以製造集成電路。
目前，金屬鎵的主要工業用途有：
- 半導體應用，例如積體電路、LED 和量子點
- 材料系統 (砷化鎵、氮化鎵、磷化鎵)
- 晶圓和鎵 MOCVD 前體 (TMG, TMGa)
- 用於液相磊晶的金屬鎵和用於 TMG/TMGa 製造的三氯化鎵
- 電動車和風力發電機
- 在使用 Ga 作為摻質的強磁鐵中
- 太陽能光電
- 作為矽基太陽能電池中的 p 摻雜劑
- 在結合了鎵、铟、銅和硒 (CIGS) 的薄膜太陽能電池中
- 特殊電池
- 在高溫硫酰氯鋰電池的電解液中
- LCD 和 OLED 顯示器
- 作為部分 IGZO（铟鎵鋅氧化物）薄膜的氧化鎵，以形成控制顯示器背板像素切換的電晶體
You can see that gallium and its compounds have an amazing number of industrial uses and unique and intriguing properties when compared to other elements. An interesting and fun read is The Disappearing Spoon (https://www.amazon.com/Disappearing-Spoon-Madness-Periodic-Elements/dp/0316051632) by Sam Kean. This book has fascinating and unusual stories about groups of elements found on the periodic table, but the title of the book is directly related to gallium. And, to see a disappearing spoon in action, view the video here: https://youtu.be/t3tpj9hVbJU
