Erbium metal is silver gray rare earth. It is stable in air, however it would slowly react with water and air. It should avoid air, oxides, halogen, acid and moisture. At high temperature, it compound with halogen, oxide, nitride, carbide, silicon and form corresponding compounds. It can process into foil, sheet, rod, wire, powder and sputtering target. Er ingot is of REM 99.9% by distillation method. Erbium powder is of REM 99.9% and particle size -100mesh and -200mesh. There are two production methods, distillation method and reduction method. The distilled erbium piece is dendritic with higher purity than reduced one.
Erbium Metal
Purity: Er/REM 99.9% 3N
| CAS No.:7440-52-0 | EINECS No.:231-160-1 | Molecular Formula:Er | Molecular Weight:167.26 |
| Melting Point:1529℃ | Boiling Point:2864℃ | Density:9.062 |
Applications
Erbium metal get uses in nuclear and alloys for example vanadium-erbium alloys, titanium-erbium alloys. Till now, the most prominent application is erbium dopant fiber amplifier. It is doping small amount of erbium ion in quartz fiber. Another prospect application is laser , especially medical laser. Erbium is laser ion that transferring laser materials including monocrystal(fluoride, oxysalt) and fiberglass, for example Er:YAP crystal and ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF fiberglass. These already get commercial uses. Yb,Er:BaYF5 can convert infrared ray to visible light. This kind of photo converting material apply to night-vision successfully.