Lithium is a Block S, Group 1, Period 2 element. The electronic configuration is [He] 2s¹. In its elemental form lithium's CAS number is 7439-93-2. The lithium atom has a radius of 152.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 182.pm. Lithium is a member of the alkali group of metals. It has the highest specific heat of any material and the highest electrochemical potential. This makes it important in applications involving heat transfer and as the anode in batteries. Lithium is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. Lithium is a dopant in advanced optical glass. It is used as an alloy in light weight metals. Lithium stearate is a common high temperature lubricant. Lithium was first discovered by Johann Arvedson in 1817.

Tantalum is a Block D, Group 5, Period 6 element. The electronic configuration is [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d³ 6s². In its elemental form tantalum's CAS number is 7440-25-7. The tantalum atom has a radius of 143.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 200.pm. Tantalum has a number of interesting properties that make it particularly useful in electronic applications. Tantalum is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. It has the third highest melting point, surpassed only by rhenium and tungsten, yet it is highly conductive to heat and electricity. This has made it the material of choice for electronic capacitors for most telecommunications and hand held electronics equipment, such as cell phones, laptop computers and pagers. Tantalum compounds, such as the oxide and chloride, are the basis for di-electric coatings. Tantalum is added to glass for its high refractive index. It has various applications in nuclear energy.

American Elements semi conducting materials are crystal structures produced from ultra high purity starting materials synthesized by our high purity production facility which includes several large electric muffle furnaces, a tube furnace for hydrogen reduction, 50 gallon glass-lined Pfaudler reactors supported by our analytical laboratory containing X-ray diffraction, SEM, AA, BET surface area, and ICP Spectrometry for trace metals analysis. See a discussion of American Elements Ultra High Purity and Analytical capabilities. See Crystal Growth for processes used to fabricate semiconductor materials, which include: