What is ytterbium used for?
By RareMetals.net Editorial Team · Updated
Ytterbium is used mainly in ytterbium-doped fibre and disk lasers that cut and weld metal in factories. It also runs some of the most precise atomic clocks, is the starting material for the cancer isotope lutetium-177, strengthens stainless steel, protects ceramic jet-engine parts, and measures high pressures in earthquake and explosion monitoring.
Main uses of ytterbium at a glance
| Application | What ytterbium does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Fibre and disk lasers | Ytterbium-doped fibre or Yb:YAG emits efficiently near 1 µm | Metal cutting, welding and additive manufacturing |
| Atomic clocks | Ytterbium atoms in an optical lattice keep extremely stable time | Research clocks at national metrology labs |
| Stress gauges | Electrical resistance changes under high pressure | Monitoring earthquakes and explosions |
| Alloys and medicine | Refines grain in stainless steel; Yb-176 is irradiated to make lutetium-177 | Specialty steel, cancer radiopharmaceuticals |
Industrial fibre and disk lasers
Ytterbium-doped optical fibre turns diode-laser light into a powerful beam near 1 µm with very high efficiency. Fibre lasers of this kind do much of the world’s sheet-metal cutting and welding, and are used in 3D metal printing, marking and battery manufacturing. Ytterbium:YAG thin-disk lasers and ultrafast ytterbium lasers serve similar and scientific uses.
Atomic clocks
Ytterbium atoms held in an optical lattice, and single trapped ytterbium ions, are the basis of some of the most stable clocks ever built, at national metrology laboratories such as NIST in the United States and PTB in Germany.
Medicine
Irradiating enriched ytterbium-176 in a reactor produces lutetium-177 of very high purity, the isotope in prostate-cancer and neuroendocrine-tumour radiopharmaceuticals. Ytterbium-169 is a gamma source used in some radiography and brachytherapy.
Metallurgy and coatings
Small additions of ytterbium refine the grain and improve the strength of some stainless steels. Ytterbium silicates are used as environmental barrier coatings that protect ceramic-matrix-composite parts in the hottest sections of modern jet engines.
Pressure gauges
The electrical resistance of ytterbium metal changes sharply under very high stress, so ytterbium gauges are used to measure ground motion from earthquakes and explosions.
Products that contain ytterbium
- Laser-cut and laser-welded metal parts
- Fibre lasers for 3D metal printing
- Atomic clocks
- Lutetium-177 cancer treatments (as feedstock)
- Jet-engine ceramic coatings
Can ytterbium be replaced?
Neodymium and CO₂ lasers can replace ytterbium fibre lasers in some jobs, at lower efficiency. Other atoms, such as strontium, are used in competing optical clocks. Lutetium-177 can also be made from lutetium-176 targets.
Ytterbium uses FAQ
What is ytterbium used for in everyday life?
Mostly indirectly: many metal products, from car bodies to kitchen equipment, are cut or welded with ytterbium fibre lasers.
Why is ytterbium used in lasers?
Its simple energy-level structure lets it convert pump light into laser light with very little wasted heat, which makes high-power fibre lasers practical.
Is ytterbium the same as yttrium?
No. Both are named after the Swedish village of Ytterby, but yttrium is element 39 and ytterbium is element 70.