Ytterbium is a
chemical elementA chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical substance composed of atoms with the same number of protons.Common examples of elements...
with the symbol
Yb and
atomic numberIn chemistry and physics, the atomic number is the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom and therefore identical to the charge number of the nucleus. It is conventionally represented by the symbol Z. The atomic number uniquely identifies a chemical element...
70. A soft silvery metallic element, ytterbium is a
rare earthAs defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a collection of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and the fifteen lanthanoids...
of the lanthanide series and is found in the minerals
gadoliniteGadolinite is a mineral of a nearly black color and vitreous luster, and consisting principally of the silicates of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium, beryllium, and iron with formula: 2FeBe2Si2O10...
,
monaziteMonazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral containing rare earth metals and is an important source of thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals...
, and
xenotimeXenotime is a rare earth phosphate mineral, whose major component is yttrium orthophosphate . It forms a solid solution series with chernovite- and therefore may contain trace impurities of arsenic, as well as silicon dioxide and calcium...
. The element is sometimes associated with
yttriumYttrium is a chemical element with symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanoids and has historically been classified as a rare earth element. Yttrium is almost always found combined with the lanthanoids in rare earth minerals and is...
or other related elements and is used in certain
steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
s. Natural ytterbium is a mix of seven stable
isotopeIsotopes are different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different number of neutrons. Correspondingly, isotopes differ in mass number but not in atomic number. The difference in the number of nucleons comes from a difference how many neutrons are in the atomic nucleus...
s. Ytterbium-169, an artificially produced isotope, is used as a
gamma rayGamma rays are electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . They are produced by sub-atomic particle interactions, such as electron-positron annihilation, neutral pion decay, radioactive decay, fusion, fission or inverse Compton scattering in astrophysical processes...
source.
Physical
Ytterbium is a soft, malleable and rather
ductileDuctility is a mechanical property used to describe the extent to which materials can be deformed plastically without fracture.In materials science, ductility specifically refers to a material's ability to deform under tensile stress; this is often characterized by the material's ability to be...
element that exhibits a bright silvery
lusterLustre is a description of the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. For example, a diamond is said to have an adamantine lustre and pyrite is said to have a metallic lustre...
. A rare earth element, it is easily attacked and dissolved by
mineral acidA mineral acid is an acid derived from one or more inorganic compounds. A mineral acid does not contain any carbon atoms and all mineral acids release hydrogen ions when dissolved in water.-Characteristics:...
s, slowly
reactsA chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. They are studied by chemists under a field of science called chemistry. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, often coming about...
with
waterWater is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...
, and oxidizes in air.
Ytterbium has three allotropes which are called alpha, beta and gamma and whose transformation points are at −13 °
CCelsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
and 795 °C. The beta form exists at room temperature and has a face-centered
crystal structureIn mineralogy and crystallography, a crystal structure is a unique arrangement of atoms or molecules in a crystalline liquid or solid. A crystal structure is composed of a motif, a set of atoms arranged in a particular way, and a lattice exhibiting long-range order and symmetry...
while the high-temperature gamma form has a body-centered crystal structure.
Normally, the beta form has a
metalA metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat, forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. In chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions...
lic-like
electrical conductivityElectrical conductivity or specific conductance is a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current. When an electrical potential difference is placed across a conductor, its movable charges flow, giving rise to an electric current...
, but becomes a
semiconductorA semiconductor is a material that has an electrical resistivity between that of a conductor and an insulator, that is, generally in the range 10
3 Siemens/cm to 10
−8 S/cm. Devices made from semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics, including radio,...
when exposed to around 16,000
atmAtmospheric pressure is defined as the force per unit area exerted against a surface by the weight of air above that surface at any given point in the Earth's atmosphere. In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above...
(1.6 GPa). Its electrical
resistivityElectrical resistivity is a measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows the movement of electrical charge...
is tenfold larger at about 39,000 atm (3.9 GPa) but then drops dramatically, to around 10% of its room temperature resistivity value, at 40,000 atm (4 GPa).
Contrary to other rare-earth metals, which show antiferromagnetic or/and ferromagnetic ordering at low temperatures, Yb is paramagnetic at any temperatures above 1 K.
Chemical
Ytterbium metal tarnishes slowly in air and burns readily at 200
°CCelsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
to form
ytterbium(III) oxideYtterbium oxide is the chemical compound with the formula Yb2O3. It is one of the more commonly encountered compounds of ytterbium...
(Yb
2O
3) or less stable ytterbium monoxide (YbO).
Ytterbium is quite electropositive and reacts slowly with cold water and quite quickly with hot water to form ytterbium hydroxide:
- 2 Yb (s) + 6 H2O (l) → 2 Yb(OH)3 (aq) + 3 H2 (g)
Ytterbium metal reacts with all the halogens:
- 2 Yb (s) + 3 F2 (g) → 2 YbF3 (s) [white]
- 2 Yb (s) + 3 Cl2 (g) → 2 YbCl3 (s) [white]
- 2 Yb (s) + 3 Br2 (g) → 2 YbBr3 (s) [white]
- 2 Yb (s) + 3 I2 (g) → 2 YbI3 (s) [white]
Ytterbium(III) ion absorbs light in the near infrared spectral range, but not in the visible region, so that ytterbia is white, and ytterbium salts of colorless anions are also colorless. Ytterbium dissolves readily in dilute
sulfuric acidSulfuric acid, , is a strong mineral acid. It is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sulfuric acid has many applications, and is one of the top products of the chemical industry. World production in 2001 was 165 million tonnes, with an approximate value of US$8 billion...
to form solutions containing the colorless Yb(III) ions, which exist as a [Yb(OH
2)
9]
3+ complexes:
- 2 Yb (s) + 3 H2SO4 (aq) → 2 Yb3+ (aq) + 3 (aq) + 3 H2 (g)
Compounds
Ytterbium shows similar chemical behavior to the rest of the lanthanoid group. Most of the compounds are found in the oxidation state +3, the salts in that oxidation state are nearly colorless. Like europium, samarium or thulium trihalogenes can be reduced by hydrogen or by addition of the metal reduced to the dihalogens, in this case the for example
YbCl2Ytterbium chloride is an inorganic chemical compound. It was first prepared in 1929 by W.K. Klemm and W. Schuth, by reduction of ytterbium chloride, YbCl3, using hydrogen. Like other Yb compounds, it is a strong reducing agent. It is unstable in aqueous solution, because it reduces...
. The oxidation state +2 reacts in some behaves similar to the
alkaline earth metalThe alkaline earth metals are a series of elements comprising Group 2 of the periodic table: beryllium , magnesium , calcium , strontium , barium and radium . This specific group in the periodic table owes its name to their oxides that simply give basic alkaline solutions...
compounds, for example the Ytterbium(II) oxide (YbO) shows the same structure than
calcium oxideCalcium oxide , commonly known as burnt lime, lime or quicklime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature. As a commercial product, lime often also contains magnesium oxide, silicon oxide and smaller amounts of aluminium oxide and...
(CaO).
- Halides: YbCl2
Ytterbium chloride is an inorganic chemical compound. It was first prepared in 1929 by W.K. Klemm and W. Schuth, by reduction of ytterbium chloride, YbCl3, using hydrogen. Like other Yb compounds, it is a strong reducing agent. It is unstable in aqueous solution, because it reduces...
, YbBr3Ytterbium bromide is an inorganic chemical compound.Refer to the adjacent table for the main properties of Ytterbium bromide....
, YbCl3Ytterbium chloride is an inorganic chemical compound.-History:Ytterbium, a Lanthanide series element, was discovered in 1878 by
Marignac who named the element after a town in Sweden. The first synthesis of YbCl
3 in the literature was that of Hoogschagen, in 1946...
, YbF3Ytterbium fluoride is an inorganic chemical compound....
- Oxides: Yb2O3
Ytterbium oxide is the chemical compound with the formula Yb2O3. It is one of the more commonly encountered compounds of ytterbium...
Isotopes
Naturally occurring ytterbium is composed of 7 stable
isotopeIsotopes are different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different number of neutrons. Correspondingly, isotopes differ in mass number but not in atomic number. The difference in the number of nucleons comes from a difference how many neutrons are in the atomic nucleus...
s, Yb-168, Yb-170, Yb-171, Yb-172, Yb-173, Yb-174, and Yb-176, with Yb-174 being the most abundant (31.83%
natural abundanceIn chemistry, natural abundance refers to the abundance isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass of these isotopes is the atomic weight listed for the element in the periodic table...
). 27 radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being Yb-169 with a
half-lifeHalf-life is the period of time, for a substance undergoing decay, to decrease by half. The name originally was used to describe a characteristic of unstable atoms , but may apply to any quantity which follows a set-rate decay....
of 32.026 days, Yb-175 with a half-life of 4.185 days, and Yb-166 with a half-life of 56.7 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 2 hours, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 20 minutes. This element also has 12 meta states, with the most stable being Yb-169m (
t½ 46 seconds).
The isotopes of ytterbium range in
atomic weightAtomic weight is a dimensionless physical quantity, the ratio of the average mass of atoms of an element to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of carbon-12...
from 147.9674
uThe unified atomic mass unit or atomic mass unit , or dalton or, sometimes, universal mass unit , is a unit of mass used to express atomic and molecular masses...
(Yb-148) to 180.9562 u (Yb-181). The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, Yb-174 is
electron captureElectron capture is a decay mode for isotopes that will occur when there are too many protons in the nucleus of an atom and insufficient energy to emit a positron; however, it continues to be a viable decay mode for radioactive isotopes that can decay by positron emission...
, and the primary mode after is beta emission. The primary
decay productIn nuclear physics, a decay product is a nuclide produced by radioactive decay. Radioactive decay often involves a sequence of steps...
s before Yb-174 are element 69 (
thuliumThulium is a chemical element that has the symbol Tm and atomic number 69. Thulium is the least abundant of the lanthanides . It is an easily workable metal with a bright silvery-gray luster...
) isotopes, and the primary products after are element 71 (
lutetiumLutetium is a chemical element with the symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is in the d-block of the periodic table, not the f-block, but the IUPAC classifies it as a lanthanide. It is one of the elements that traditionally was included in the classification, "rare earths"...
) isotopes. Of interest to modern
quantum opticsQuantum optics is a field of research in physics, dealing with the application of quantum mechanics to phenomena involving light and its interactions with matter.- History of quantum optics :...
, the different ytterbium isotopes follow either Bose-Einstein statistics or
Fermi-Dirac statisticsFermi-Dirac statistics is a part of the science of physics that describes the energies of single particles in a system comprising many identical particles that obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle...
, leading to interesting behavior in
optical latticeAn optical lattice is formed by the interference of counterpropagating laser beams, which creates a periodic polarization pattern. The resulting periodic potential can then be used to trap neutral atoms via the Stark shift. Atoms are cooled and congregated in the potential minima...
s.
History
Ytterbium was discovered by the Swiss chemist
Jean Charles Galissard de MarignacJean Charles Galissard de Marignac was a Swiss chemist whose work with atomic weights suggested the possibility of isotopes and the packing fraction of nuclei and whose study of the rare earth elements led to his discovery of ytterbium in 1878 and codiscovery of gadolinium in 1880.- Life and work...
in the year 1878. Marignac found a new component in the earth then known as erbia and named it ytterbia (after
YtterbyYtterby is a village on the Swedish island of Resarö, in Vaxholm Municipality in the Stockholm archipelago.Lending its name to a famous quarry where many rare earth minerals have been discovered, the small village has been the inspiration for naming four of the chemical elements: yttrium ,...
, the Swedish town where he found the new erbia component). He suspected that ytterbia was a compound of a new element he called ytterbium.
In 1907, the French chemist
Georges UrbainGeorges Urbain - French chemist, professor of Sorbona. He studied at the elite École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris . He discovered the element Lutetium in 1907.-References:...
separated Marignac's ytterbia into two components, neoytterbia and lutecia. Neoytterbia would later become known as the element ytterbium and lutecia would later be known as the element
lutetiumLutetium is a chemical element with the symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is in the d-block of the periodic table, not the f-block, but the IUPAC classifies it as a lanthanide. It is one of the elements that traditionally was included in the classification, "rare earths"...
. Auer von Welsbach independently isolated these elements from ytterbia at about the same time but called them aldebaranium and cassiopeium.
The chemical and physical properties of ytterbium could not be determined until 1953 when the first nearly pure ytterbium was produced. The price of ytterbium was relatively stable between 1953 and 1998 at about US$ 1,000/kg.
Occurrence
Ytterbium is found with other
rare earth elementAs defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a collection of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and the fifteen lanthanoids...
s in several rare
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
s. It is most often recovered commercially from
monaziteMonazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral containing rare earth metals and is an important source of thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals...
sand (0.03% ytterbium). The element is also found in
euxeniteEuxenite or euxenite- is a brownish black mineral with a metallic luster. It contains calcium, niobium, tantalum, cerium, titanium, yttrium, and typically uranium and thorium, with some other metals. The chemical formula is: 2O6. It occurs in granite pegmatites and detrital...
and
xenotimeXenotime is a rare earth phosphate mineral, whose major component is yttrium orthophosphate . It forms a solid solution series with chernovite- and therefore may contain trace impurities of arsenic, as well as silicon dioxide and calcium...
. The main mining areas are
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
,
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
; and reserves of ytterbium are estimated as about one million tonnes. Ytterbium is normally difficult to separate from other rare earths, but ion-exchange and solvent extraction techniques developed in the mid to late 20th century have simplified separation. Known
compoundsA chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...
of ytterbium are rare—they haven't been well characterized yet. The abundance of ytterbium in the Earth crust is about 3 mg/kg.
The most important current (2008) sources of ytterbium are the ionic adsorption clays of southern China. The "High Yttrium" concentrate derived from some versions of these comprise about two thirds yttria by weight, and 3-4% ytterbia. As an even-numbered lanthanide, in accordance with the Oddo-Harkins rule, ytterbium is significantly more abundant than its immediate neighbors, thulium and lutetium, which occur in the same concentrate at levels of about 0.5% each. The world production of ytterbium is only about 50 tonnes per year, reflecting the fact that it finds little commercial application.
Production
Recovery of ytterbium from ores involves several processes which are common to most rare-earth elements: 1) processing, 2) separation of Yb from other rare earths, 3) preparation of the metal. If the starting ore is
gadoliniteGadolinite is a mineral of a nearly black color and vitreous luster, and consisting principally of the silicates of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium, beryllium, and iron with formula: 2FeBe2Si2O10...
, it is digested with hydrochloric or
nitric acidNitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid.Colorless when pure older samples tend to acquire a stronger yellow cast due to the accumulation of oxides of nitrogen. If the solution contains more than 86% nitric acid, it is referred to as...
which dissolves the rare-earth metals. The solution is treated with sodium oxalate or
oxalic acidOxalic acid is the chemical compound with the formula C2O22 or HOOCCOOH. This colourless solid is a relatively strong carboxylic acid, being about 3,000 times stronger than acetic acid. The dianion, known as oxalate, is a reducing agent as well as a ligand for...
to precipitate rare earths as oxalates. For
euxeniteEuxenite or euxenite- is a brownish black mineral with a metallic luster. It contains calcium, niobium, tantalum, cerium, titanium, yttrium, and typically uranium and thorium, with some other metals. The chemical formula is: 2O6. It occurs in granite pegmatites and detrital...
, or is processed either by fusion with potassium bisulfate or with
hydrofluoric acidHydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride in water. While it is extremely corrosive and difficult to handle, it is technically a weak acid...
.
MonaziteMonazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral containing rare earth metals and is an important source of thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals...
or
xenotimeXenotime is a rare earth phosphate mineral, whose major component is yttrium orthophosphate . It forms a solid solution series with chernovite- and therefore may contain trace impurities of arsenic, as well as silicon dioxide and calcium...
are heated either with sulfuric acid or with caustic soda.
Ytterbium is separated from other rare earths either by
ion exchangeIon exchange is an exchange of ions between two electrolytes or between an electrolyte solution and a complex. In most cases the term is used to denote the processes of purification, separation, and decontamination of aqueous and other ion-containing solutions with solid polymeric or mineralic 'ion...
or by reduction with sodium amalgam. In the latter method, a buffered acidic solution of trivalent rare earths is treated with molten sodium mercury alloy, which reduces and dissolves Yb
3+. The alloy is treated with hydrochloric acid. The metal is extracted from the solution as oxalate and converted to oxide by heating. The oxide is reduced to metal by heating with
lanthanumLanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57.Lanthanum is a silvery white metallic element that belongs to group 3 of the periodic table and is a lanthanoid. It is found in some rare-earth minerals, usually in combination with cerium and other rare earth elements...
,
aluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
,
ceriumCerium is a chemical element with the symbol Ce and atomic number 58. It is a soft, silvery, ductile metal which easily oxidizes in air. Cerium was named after the dwarf planet . Cerium is the most abundant of the rare earth elements, making up about 0.0046% of the Earth's crust by weight. It is...
or
zirconiumZirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. It is a lustrous, gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium. Zirconium is used as an alloying agent due to its high resistance to corrosion. It is never found as a native metal; it is obtained mainly from...
in high vacuum. The metal is purified by sublimation and collected over a condensed plate.
Source of gamma rays
The
169Yb
isotopeIsotopes are different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different number of neutrons. Correspondingly, isotopes differ in mass number but not in atomic number. The difference in the number of nucleons comes from a difference how many neutrons are in the atomic nucleus...
has been used as a
radiationIn physics, radiation describes any process in which energy emitted by one body travels through a medium or through space, ultimately to be absorbed by another body...
source substitute for a portable
X-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 10 to 0.01 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays...
machine when
electricityElectricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge...
was not available. Like X-rays, gamma rays pass through soft tissues of the body, but are blocked by bones and other dense materials. Thus, small
169Yb samples (which emit gamma rays) act like tiny X-ray machines useful for
radiographyRadiography is the use of the property of X-rays to cross materials to view inside objects. The impact on society of this technique has also been immense : application fields are medical, non-destructive testing, food inspection, security, archeology, ......
of small objects. Experiment shows that radiographs taken with
169Yb source are roughly equivalent to those taken with X-rays having energies between 250 and 350 keV.
Doping of stainless steel
Ytterbium could also be used to help improve the grain refinement, strength, and other mechanical properties of
stainless steelIn metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox, is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 11% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not stain, corrode, or rust as easily as ordinary steel...
. Some ytterbium
alloyAn alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history...
s have been used in
dentistryDentistry is the known evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the soft and hard tissues of the jaw , the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is a part of stomatology...
.
Yb as dopant of active media
Yb is used as dopant in optical materials, usually in the form of
ionAn ion is an atom or molecule where the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge...
s in
active laser mediaThe active laser medium or gain medium is the source of optical gain within a laser. The gain results from the stimulated emission of electronic or molecular transitions to a lower energy state from a higher energy state...
. Several powerful
double-clad fiberIn fiber optics, a double-clad fiber is an optical fiber that has a relatively small-diameter core and two layers of large-diameter cladding. Usually, both cladding layers have lower refractive index than the core, and the inner cladding layer has lower refractive index than the outer layer...
lasers and
disk laserA disk laser or active mirror is a type of solid-state laser characterized by a heat sink and laser output that are realized on opposite sides of a thin layer of active gain medium...
s use Yb
3+ ions as
dopantA dopant, also called doping agent and dope, is an impurity element added to a crystal lattice in low concentrations in order to alter the optical/electrical properties of the crystal....
at concentration of several
atomic percentThe atomic ratio is a measure of the ratio of atoms of one kind to another kind . A closely related concept is the atomic percent , which gives the percentage of one kind of atom relative to the total number of atoms...
. Glasses (optical fibers), crystals and ceramics with Yb
3+ are used.
Ytterbium is often used as a doping material (as Yb
3+) for high power and wavelength-tunable solid state lasers. Yb lasers commonly radiate in the 1.06–1.12 µm band
being optically pumped at wavelength 900 nm–1 µm, dependently on the host and application.
Small
quantum defectThe term quantum defect is highly ambiguous. Various meanings are discussed below.-Quantum defect in laser science:In laser science, the term quantum defect refers to the fact that the energy of a pump photon is generally higher than that of a signal photon...
makes Yb prospective dopant for efficient lasers and
power scalingPower scaling of a laser is increasing its output power without changing the geometry, shape, or principle of operation. Power scalability is considered an important advantage in a laser design....
.
The kinetic of excitations in Yb-doped materials is simple and can be described within concept of
effective cross-sectionThe McCumber relation refers to the effective cross-sections of absorption and emission of light in the physics of solid-state lasers.-Definition:...
s; for the most of Yb-doped laser materials (as for many other optically-pumped gain media), the
McCumber relationThe McCumber relation refers to the effective cross-sections of absorption and emission of light in the physics of solid-state lasers.-Definition:...
holds, although the application to the Yb-doped composite materials was under discussion.
Usually, low concentrations of Yb are used. At high concentration of excitations, the
Yb-doped materials show
photodarkeningPhotodarkening is optical effect observed in interaction of laser radiation withamorphous media in optical fibers.Until now, such creation of color centers was reported only in glassfibers...
(glass fibers) or ever switch to the broadband emission (crystals and ceramics) instead of the efficient laser action.
This effect may be related with not only overheating, but also conditions of the charge compensation at high concentration of Yb ions.
Others
Ytterbium metal increases its electrical resistivity when subjected to high stresses. This property is used in stress gauges to monitor ground deformations from earthquakes and explosions.
Precautions
Although ytterbium is fairly stable, it nevertheless should be stored in closed containers to protect it from air and moisture. All compounds of ytterbium should be treated as highly toxic although initial studies appear to indicate that the danger is limited. Ytterbium compounds are, however, known to cause
skinThe skin is the outer covering of the body. In humans, it is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of mesodermal tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs. Skin of a different nature exists in amphibians, reptiles, birds...
and
eyeEyes are organs that detect light, and send electrical impulses along the optic nerve to the visual and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system...
irritation and may be teratogenic. Metallic ytterbium dust poses a
fireFire is the rapid oxidation of a combustible material releasing heat, light, and various reaction products such as carbon dioxide and water. If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the...
and
explosionAn explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
hazard.
Further reading
- Guide to the Elements – Revised Edition, Albert Stwertka, (Oxford University Press; 1998) ISBN 0-19-508083-1
- It's Elemental – Ytterbium
External links