American Elements Logo and U.S. Registered Trademark

 

Erbium

ERBIUM INFORMATION CENTER

PROPERTIES, APPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH

PRODUCT CATALOG U.S. Operations Submicron & Nanopowder Tolling Ultra High Purity Sputtering Target Crystal Growth Rod, Plate, Powder, etc. Foil

Advanced Materials Information Center   |  Erbium Products

PROPERTIES OF ERBIUM

Melting Point 1497°C
Boiling Point 2900°C
Density 9.05 g/cm3
Crystal Structure hcp
Metallic Radius 176 pm
Valency 3
Magnetic Moment 9.6µB

 

APPLICATIONS OF ERBIUM

Erbium has application in glass coloring, as an amplifier in fiber optics, and in lasers for medical and dental use.

The ion has a very narrow absorption band coloring erbium salts pink.  It is therefore used  in eyeware and decorative glassware.  It can neutralize discoloring impurities such as ferric ions and produce a neutral gray shade. It is used in a variety of glass products for this purpose.

It is particularly useful as an amplifier for fiber optic data transfer.  Erbium lases at the wavelength required to provide an efficient optical method of amplification, 1.55 microns.  As shown below under recent research, many interesting developments are occurring in this area.

Lasers based on Er:YAG  are ideally suited for surgical applications because of its ability to deliver energy  without thermal build-up in tissue .

 

RECENT ERBIUM RESEARCH

 

 

1.  Boothroyd SA, Skirtach A, Chan L, et al.

     Measurement of real-time gain gratin s in erbium-doped fibeR

     IEEE J QUANTUM ELECT 35: (1) 39-46 JAN 1999

 

2.   Balasubramanian R, Miyazaki Y

     Theoretical transient amplification characteristics of optical waveguide amplifiers  

     using erbium doped Garnet crystalline thin-film

    IEICE T ELECTRON E81C: (12) 1926-1935 DEC 1998

 

3.  Ostorero J, Guillot M

     Magnetooptical properties of Sc-substituted erbium-iron-garnet single crystals

     J APPL PHYS 83: (11) 6756-6758 Part 2 JUN 1 1998

 

4.  Guillot M, Schmiedel T, Xu Y

     Faraday rotation and magnetic properties of erbium gallium gallate under high    

     magnetic field

    J APPL PHYS 83: (11) 6762-6764 Part 2 JUN 1 1998

 

5.  Karasek M, Willems FW

    Channel addition/removal response in cascades of strongly inverted erbium-doped 

   fiber amplifiers

   J LIGHTWAVE TECHNOL 16: (12) 2311-2317 DEC 1998

 

6.  Liaw CY, Zhou Y, Lam YL

    Characterization of an open-loop interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope with the Sagnac

     coil closed by an erbium-doped fiber amplifier

     JIAGHTWAVETECHNOL 16: (12) 2385-2392 DEC 1998

 

7.  Aleksandrov OV, Nikolaev YA, Sobolev NA

     Model of the redistribution of erbium during the solid-phase epitaxial crystallization of

     silicon

     SEMICONDUCTORS+ 32: (12) 1266-1269 DEC 1998

 

8.  Polnikorn N, Goldberg DJ, Suwanchinda A, et al.

     Erbium : YAG laser resurfacing in Asians

     DERMATOL SURG 24: (12) 13 03 -13 07 DEC 1998

 

9.   Maeda Y, Akidzuki Y, Konishi A, et al.

      All-optical inverter operating up to 850 degrees C in an erbium-doped phosphate

      glass

      JPN J APPL PHYS 2 37: (12A) L1475-LI477 DEC 1 1998

 

10. Laporta P, Taccheo S, Longhi S, et al.

     Erbium-ytterbium microlasers: optical properties and lasing characteristics

      OPT MATER 11: (2-3) 269-288 JAN 1999

PRODUCT CATALOG U.S. Operations Submicron & Nanopowder Tolling Ultra High Purity Sputtering Target Crystal Growth Rod, Plate, Powder, etc. Foil