Gallium nitride, hailed as the most important new electronic material since silicon, is used to produce very bright light emitting diodes and lasers, and very high power transistors that can operate at high temperatures.
Now, thanks to a £500,000 donation of equipment from the Cambridge-based Thomas Swan Scientific Equipment Ltd, researchers at Cambridge will be placed at the forefront of this new technology.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has provided a grant of almost £1 million for the running costs and the research programme will be conducted in partnership between TSSEL and the University of Cambridge along with University College London and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
Dr John Taylor, Director General of the Research Councils, will be present along with Professor Sir Alec Broers, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, to officially open the facility on 20 July 2000.
Paul Hyland, Managing Director of TSSEL, will address the industrial relevance of the programme and will be joined on the day by Dr Holger Juergensen, President and CEO of AIXTRON AG, the parent company of TSSEL.
Professor Colin Humphreys, of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, explained the importance of gallium nitride:
"Light emitting diodes based on gallium nitride can be used to make light bulbs that last 100 times longer than traditional bulbs and consume only 10 per cent of their energy," he said.
"If light bulbs are replaced by these LEDs, huge energy savings will result, with big reductions in CO2 emissions from power stations."
"Gallium nitride can also be used to make blue lasers that will write at least four times more information on CDs and optical disks than the red lasers we use at present. That means it will be possible to write all of Madonna's melodies - or all of Schubert's symphonies - on a single CD."
Other potential applications for this technology include powerful transistors which can be used in mobile phone base stations to give much greater ranges of transmission, and highly accurate lasers which could be used in surgery and dentistry.
Paul Hyland talked of the potential benefits to be achieved:
"The potential commercial and environmental benefits to be obtained from success in this area are immense and stand to benefit both developed and third world communities alike.
"Similarly, the future for companies like TSSEL and AIXTRON lies with their ability to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with customers and centres of research excellence like Cambridge.
"This project epitomises TSSEL and AIXTRON AG's determination to further increase their presence in this market by playing an active role in its development. The future looks bright in every sense of the word!"