Sm_xLa_2−xCaB₁₀O₁₉

La₂Hf₂O₇

Ca₂LaHf₂Al₃O₁₂

If looking at the above makes you wonder if there was a keyboard malfunction, no, these are all the latest compounds cooked up by the mad scientists who make the gadgets we all love a reality. Specifically, they are the chemical formulas for the phosphors that make LEDs light up nice and bright any color you can imagine. LEDs, or light emitting diodes, are the elements that produce light at the flick of the switch. A generation ago they were confined to the role of blinking lights in electronics and little else because they weren’t very bright and mostly lit up in the same robot-laser hue of red. Billions of dollars fueled intense research in materials engineering towards improving this tech and little by little LEDs started taking over. First to go were the primitive black-on-gray LCD panels of yesteryear making modern laptops a reality. LEDs then bested the image quality possible with the old cathode-ray tube, giving way to today’s flat TV screens. Then they started creeping into cars’ dashboards and eventually the headlamps and brake lights too. Finally, LEDs are sweeping out tungsten-filament and fluorescent lighting inside homes and offices. Soon, everywhere you see artificial lighting you will be looking at LEDs.

And what does any of this have to do with lanthanum? Look again at the letter soup at the beginning to see how La plays a part in it all. Luckily, there is an ample supply of this metal unlikely to feel the pinch of over-demand from a world gone crazy for electronic gadgetry. Let’s just be thankful for that and the fact that a little known metal has all the specs necessary to make it happen!