Ytterbium oxide
Properties
Chemical formula: Yb₂O₃
Name: Ytterbium(III) oxide / ytterbium oxide
CAS No.: 1314-37-0
Molar mass: 394.08 g/mol
Density: 9.17 g/cm³
Melting point: approx. 2355 °C
Color: white
Form: fine powder
Solubility: insoluble in water, slowly soluble in hot inorganic acids
Ytterbium oxide (Yb₂O₃), also known as ytterbium(III) oxide, is an inorganic compound belonging to the group of rare-earth oxides. It is typically supplied as a fine, odorless white powder and is characterized by high density and excellent thermal stability.
Ytterbium oxide is insoluble in water but dissolves slowly in hot inorganic acids, forming the corresponding ytterbium(III) salts. With a melting point of approximately 2355 °C, Yb₂O₃ is suitable for advanced materials exposed to demanding high-temperature conditions.
One of the most important characteristics of Yb³⁺ ions is their comparatively simple electronic structure and strong absorption in the near-infrared region around 980 nm. This contributes to the high efficiency of ytterbium-doped laser materials and helps reduce undesirable energy-loss mechanisms during optical excitation.
Ytterbium oxide also offers relatively low thermal conductivity, making it interesting for thermal barrier and protective coating systems. Yb₂O₃ is commonly produced by thermal calcination of ytterbium oxalate, ytterbium hydroxide or ytterbium carbonate at temperatures above 800 °C.
The element ytterbium is used both as ytterbium metal and in the form of specialized compounds. Ytterbium and its compounds are relevant for fiber lasers, solid-state lasers, specialty optics, thermal barrier coatings, electronics and semiconductor technologies.
Would you like to buy ytterbium oxide? Auremo offers ytterbium oxide, ytterbium metal and other rare metals. The ytterbium price, ytterbium metal price and ytterbium price per kg primarily refer to metallic ytterbium, while the price of ytterbium oxide depends on purity, particle size, order quantity and delivery conditions.
Advantages
• High efficiency in ytterbium-doped laser materials
• Strong near-infrared absorption around 980 nm
• Relatively low thermal conductivity
• Suitable for thermal barrier coatings
• High material density of 9.17 g/cm³
• Very high thermal stability
• Stability at temperatures above 2300 °C
• Suitable for optical, electronic and functional materials
Applications
• Fiber lasers
• Yb:YAG solid-state lasers
• High-power industrial laser systems
• Laser materials processing
• Thermal barrier coatings (TBC)
• Protective coatings for gas turbines and aircraft engines
• Infrared-absorbing specialty glass
• Photovoltaic conversion materials
• Upconversion phosphors
• High-k dielectrics
• MIS capacitors
• Microelectronics and semiconductor technology
Auremo offers a wide range of ytterbium, ytterbium oxide and other rare metals at competitive prices. If you have any questions about Yb₂O₃, ytterbium metal, available purity grades, particle sizes or delivery conditions, please contact us directly.
