Ytterbium
Ytterbium is a silvery lanthanide first identified in 1878, the third of four elements to be named after the Swedish village of Ytterby. Its most valuable modern roles are in high-power industrial lasers and in some of the most precise atomic clocks ever built.
- Group · Period
- — · 6
- At room temp
- solid
- Melts at
- 1092 K
- Density
- 6.9 g/cm³
- Discovered
- 1878
Uses
Ytterbium’s most significant industrial application is in high-power fiber lasers, where ytterbium-doped optical fiber generates the intense beams used for cutting, welding, and engraving metal in manufacturing. In physics research, ytterbium atoms are used to build some of the most precise atomic clocks ever constructed, exploiting the extremely stable frequency of light they absorb and emit. Ytterbium’s electrical resistance also changes in a predictable way when it’s compressed, a property that’s been used to make gauges for measuring the pressure of shock waves in materials-testing experiments.
History
Ytterbium was identified in 1878 by Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac, who found it while investigating what other chemists had believed was pure erbium oxide. Its discovery followed the same pattern as several other lanthanides pulled from the mineral originally dug near Ytterby, Sweden — a single starting material that turned out, on closer inspection, to contain multiple distinct elements. Marignac’s choice of name kept the tradition going, making ytterbium the third of four elements ultimately named after that one small village.
Fun facts
- Ytterbium is one of four elements named after Ytterby, the small Swedish village where the mineral containing them was first found.
- Ytterbium-doped fiber lasers are widely used in industry for cutting and welding metal with a tightly focused, high-power beam.
- Experimental atomic clocks built around ytterbium atoms are among the most precise timekeeping devices ever created.
Frequently asked questions
What is ytterbium actually used for?
Its biggest practical role is inside high-power fiber lasers, where ytterbium-doped fiber is used to generate the intense, tightly focused beams used for industrial cutting, welding, and marking of metal. Ytterbium is also central to some of the most precise experimental atomic clocks in the world, and its electrical resistance changes predictably under pressure, a property used in gauges that measure the force of shock waves in physics experiments.
Why do four different elements share a name based on Ytterby?
Ytterby is a village near Stockholm where a quarry produced an unusually rich mixture of rare-earth minerals. As 19th-century chemists slowly discovered that this material actually contained several distinct elements rather than one, they named four of them — yttrium, ytterbium, terbium, and erbium — after the village itself.
Is ytterbium used in atomic clocks instead of cesium?
Cesium remains the official basis for defining the second, but researchers have built experimental optical lattice clocks using ytterbium atoms that are even more precise than traditional cesium clocks. These ytterbium clocks are used in cutting-edge timekeeping and physics research rather than everyday timekeeping.
Compounds
2 notable compounds containing Yb
- YbCl3halide
Ytterbium(III) chloride
A white, hygroscopic ytterbium salt typically handled as its hydrate, used as a common laboratory starting material for other ytterbium compounds.
Used for: Precursor for ytterbium metal and ytterbium-doped optical materials
- Yb2O3oxide
Ytterbium(III) oxide
A white rare-earth oxide and the standard commercial source of ytterbium, stable in air despite ytterbium's occasional access to a +2 oxidation state.
Used for: Precursor for ytterbium-doped fiber laser and amplifier glass
Isotopes
37 known isotopes
Swipe to see all columns →
| Isotope | Natural abundance | Half-life | Decay mode | Mass excess | Binding energy / nucleon | Decay width |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yb-168 stable | 0.123% | Stable | — | -61,579.87 keV | 8,111.89 keV | — |
| Yb-170 stable | 2.982% | Stable | — | -60,763.93 keV | 8,106.61 keV | — |
| Yb-171 stable | 14.086% | Stable | — | -59,306.82 keV | 8,097.88 keV | — |
| Yb-172 stable | 21.686% | Stable | — | -59,255.46 keV | 8,097.43 keV | — |
| Yb-173 stable | 16.103% | Stable | — | -57,551.23 keV | 8,087.43 keV | — |
| Yb-174 stable | 32.025% | Stable | — | -56,944.52 keV | 8,083.85 keV | — |
| Yb-176 stable | 12.995% | Stable | — | -53,491.32 keV | 8,064.09 keV | — |
Show all 37 isotopes
| Yb-149 | — | 0.7 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), ECP (0%) | -33,330 keV | 7,927 keV | 6.52 × 10-16 eV |
| Yb-150 | — | 200 ns | Unknown | -38,830 keV | 7,965 keV | 2.28 × 10-9 eV |
| Yb-151 | — | 1.6 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), ECP (0%) | -41,542.35 keV | 7,983.76 keV | 2.85 × 10-16 eV |
| Yb-152 | — | 3.03 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), Beta-plus, proton emission | -46,270.39 keV | 8,015.44 keV | 1.51 × 10-16 eV |
| Yb-153 | — | 4.2 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (90%), Alpha decay (10%), Beta-plus, proton emission (0.008%) | -47,160 keV | 8,022 keV | 1.09 × 10-16 eV |
| Yb-154 | — | 0.409 s | Alpha decay (92.6%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay (7.4%) | -49,932.09 keV | 8,039.94 keV | 1.12 × 10-15 eV |
| Yb-155 | — | 1.793 s | Alpha decay (89%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay (11%) | -50,502.61 keV | 8,043.82 keV | 2.54 × 10-16 eV |
| Yb-156 | — | 26.1 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (90%), Alpha decay (10%) | -53,265.54 keV | 8,061.71 keV | 1.75 × 10-17 eV |
| Yb-157 | — | 38.6 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (99.5%), Alpha decay (0.5%) | -53,419.91 keV | 8,062.76 keV | 1.18 × 10-17 eV |
| Yb-158 | — | 1.49 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), Alpha decay (0.0021%) | -56,009.62 keV | 8,079.2 keV | 5.10 × 10-18 eV |
| Yb-159 | — | 1.67 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -55,833.52 keV | 8,078.04 keV | 4.55 × 10-18 eV |
| Yb-160 | — | 4.8 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -58,163.23 keV | 8,092.56 keV | 1.58 × 10-18 eV |
| Yb-161 | — | 4.2 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -57,834.25 keV | 8,090.39 keV | 1.81 × 10-18 eV |
| Yb-162 | — | 18.87 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -59,821.16 keV | 8,102.53 keV | 4.03 × 10-19 eV |
| Yb-163 | — | 11.05 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -59,293.88 keV | 8,099.11 keV | 6.88 × 10-19 eV |
| Yb-164 | — | 75.8 m | Electron capture (100%) | -61,012.17 keV | 8,109.41 keV | 1.00 × 10-19 eV |
| Yb-165 | — | 9.9 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -60,295.39 keV | 8,104.84 keV | 7.68 × 10-19 eV |
| Yb-166 | — | 56.7 h | Electron capture (100%) | -61,593.71 keV | 8,112.46 keV | 2.24 × 10-21 eV |
| Yb-167 | — | 17.5 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -60,589.9 keV | 8,106.2 keV | 4.35 × 10-19 eV |
| Yb-169 | — | 32.018 d | Electron capture (100%) | -60,375.53 keV | 8,104.52 keV | 1.65 × 10-22 eV |
| Yb-175 | — | 4.185 d | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -54,695.56 keV | 8,070.93 keV | 1.26 × 10-21 eV |
| Yb-177 | — | 1.911 h | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -50,986.4 keV | 8,049.97 keV | 6.63 × 10-20 eV |
| Yb-178 | — | 74 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -49,677.14 keV | 8,042.74 keV | 1.03 × 10-19 eV |
| Yb-179 | — | 8.0 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -46,640 keV | 8,026 keV | 9.50 × 10-19 eV |
| Yb-180 | — | 2.4 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -44,720 keV | 8,016 keV | 3.17 × 10-18 eV |
| Yb-181 | — | 160 ns | Beta-minus decay | -41,088 keV | 7,996 keV | 2.85 × 10-9 eV |
| Yb-182 | — | 160 ns | Beta-minus decay | -38,900 keV | 7,984 keV | 2.85 × 10-9 eV |
| Yb-183 | — | 222 ns | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -35,000 keV | 7,963 keV | 2.06 × 10-9 eV |
| Yb-184 | — | 160 ns | Beta-minus decay | -32,600 keV | 7,951 keV | 2.85 × 10-9 eV |
| Yb-185 | — | 160 ns | Beta-minus decay | -28,480 keV | 7,929 keV | 2.85 × 10-9 eV |