One effect of the beam is to polarise the cloud of electrons surrounding each rubidium nucleus, meaning that part of the atom becomes a negatively charged pole, and part a positively charged pole.
But Dr Zheludev has found that a similar effect can be achieved by keeping the temperature stable and using a beam of light to manipulate gallium's metallic nature.
While the driving lights are the first use of a laser beam reflected off a mirror, the daytime running lamps, with their characteristic "torch" effect, and the indicator lights use LEDs.