China Northern Rare Earth expands into motors, hydrogen storage, and advanced materials as China moves to convert rare earth dominance into industrial power.
Element Profile
Ytterbium
Symbol
Yb
Atomic number
70
Group
Heavy rare earth
Properties
Density
6.90 g/cm³
Melting point
824 °C
Boiling point
1196 °C
Crustal abundance
3.2 ppm
Supply Risk
Supply risk
Medium
Geological scarcity
Medium
Primary economic driver
Fiber lasers (industrial cutting, welding and marking)
Overview
About Ytterbium
Ytterbium (Yb, atomic number 70) is a soft, silvery heavy rare earth metal best known for its role in fiber lasers that cut, weld and mark metal. It also runs record-setting atomic clocks, and it has been added to stainless steel to make it stronger. China supplied 86% of U.S. ytterbium compound and metal imports in 2021–24, according to USGS.
What ytterbium is
Ytterbium is a lanthanide and one of the heavy rare earth elements. The U.S. Geological Survey puts its average crustal abundance at 3.2 parts per million in Professional Paper 1802-O, and the Royal Society of Chemistry says it is more abundant than tin. Ores hold very little of it, though. Monazite contains only about 0.03% ytterbium, according to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Like the other rare earths, it must be separated from its chemical neighbors before use (RSC).
The physical properties listed on this page are from the RSC periodic table. The metal tarnishes in air, and LANL warns that ytterbium powder is a fire risk.
Discovery and name
Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac isolated ytterbium in 1878 at the University of Geneva. He separated it from erbium and named it after Ytterby, Sweden, according to the RSC. Carl Auer von Welsbach found it at about the same time and called it aldebaranium, but Marignac's name stuck (LANL). In 1907, French chemist Georges Urbain showed that Marignac's ytterbium held a second element, lutetium.
Why fiber lasers use ytterbium
Ytterbium-doped fibers have become the preferred gain medium for high-power fiber lasers, according to a 2018 review in High Power Laser Science and Engineering. The authors credit ytterbium's simple energy structure and low quantum defect, which means little of the pump light is lost as heat. The review names welding and cutting among their main uses, and the RSC notes marking and engraving. USGS lists industrial and medical lasers among heavy rare earth uses in its 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries.
Ytterbium atomic clocks
In 2013 the National Institute of Standards and Technology reported that its two ytterbium lattice clocks were stable to within less than two parts in a quintillion. NIST said that was about ten times better than the best published results for other atomic clocks. In 2018 NIST reported new records for the same type of clock in uncertainty, stability and reproducibility. The institute called ytterbium one of the candidates for a future redefinition of the second. It also said such clocks could help map Earth's gravity field.
Stainless steel and other uses
- Stronger stainless steel. Ytterbium has been mixed into stainless steel alloys to make the metal stronger (LANL).
- Portable X-ray machines. The isotope ytterbium-169 gives off gamma rays and has been used in portable X-ray machines that need no electricity (RSC, USGS).
- Stress gauges. Ytterbium's electrical resistance changes under pressure. A 1989 U.S. patent named it the preferred sensor in a gauge built to record rock stress near underground explosions.
- Glass and ceramics. Ytterbium oxide goes into special glass and ceramics (RSC), including glass colorants and glare filters (USGS).
- Catalysts and memory. Ytterbium serves as an industrial catalyst and has been used in bubble memory, an older form of computer memory (RSC, LANL).
Where ytterbium comes from
Most ytterbium comes from monazite, and bastnaesite holds too little to be worth extracting, according to LANL. Heavy rare earths run higher in some ores, including ion-adsorption clays (USGS), and xenotime is another common rare earth host (USGS PP 1802-O). In carbonatites and alkaline rocks, thorium- and uranium-bearing minerals often occur with the rare earths. Those deposits are commonly radioactive, according to the same paper. Ion-adsorption clays generally are not.
China mined about 270,000 of the world's 390,000 metric tons of rare earth oxide in 2025, according to USGS. The same report lists large reserves in China, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Vietnam and the United States. China supplied 86% of U.S. imports of ytterbium compounds and metals in 2021–24, with Germany, Chile and South Korea each supplying 4% or less. USGS says the material from those three was made from feedstock produced elsewhere.
Export controls and supply risk
Ytterbium was not among the seven rare earths China placed under export licensing in April 2025 (USGS). On October 9, 2025, China's Ministry of Commerce added ytterbium, europium, holmium, erbium and thulium in Announcement No. 57, according to Pillsbury. On November 7, 2025, China suspended that rule under Announcement No. 70, before it took effect (IEA; CIRS). The suspension was set to end on November 10, 2026. As of early October 2026, China had not announced a formal extension.
Supply outside China (as of October 2026)
Lynas Rare Earths announced a new heavy rare earth separation plant in Malaysia in October 2025. Ytterbium was not on its initial product list. Lynas said it would consider adding ytterbium if commercial agreements justify the investment, according to its ASX announcement. It said the same of europium, holmium and erbium. REEx found no later announcement of separated ytterbium from Lynas. In the United States, several companies made small quantities of heavy rare earth compounds in 2025, but none reached sustained commercial-scale output, according to USGS.
Recycling
The RSC puts ytterbium's recycling rate below 10%. USGS reported that small quantities of heavy rare earths were recovered from permanent magnets in 2025. It did not report any ytterbium recovery.
What drives ytterbium demand and supply
Ytterbium's best-documented use is high-power fiber lasers, plus a set of small specialty uses. Supply comes as a small byproduct of mining for other rare earths. U.S. import data for 2021–24 point to China as the main source of separated ytterbium in the supply chain. Near-term supply depends on how China handles the October 2025 controls and on whether a producer outside China adds ytterbium to its product list.
Frequently asked questions
What is ytterbium used for?
Its best-documented use is in ytterbium-doped fiber lasers, which cut, weld and mark metal. Other uses include atomic clocks, stronger stainless steel, portable X-ray sources, stress gauges, special glass and catalysts.
Why do fiber lasers use ytterbium?
Ytterbium has a simple energy structure and a low quantum defect, so little of the pump light is lost as heat. That lets ytterbium-doped fibers carry high power, which is why they became the preferred gain medium for high-power fiber lasers.
Is ytterbium rare?
Not in the crust as a whole. USGS puts its average crustal abundance at 3.2 parts per million, and the Royal Society of Chemistry says it is more abundant than tin. The problem is that ores hold very little of it, about 0.03% of monazite, so it comes out as a small byproduct.
Does China restrict ytterbium exports?
China added ytterbium to its export-control list in October 2025 under Announcement No. 57, then suspended that rule in November 2025 before it took effect. The suspension was set to end on November 10, 2026, and China had not announced a formal extension as of early October 2026.
Who discovered ytterbium?
Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac isolated it in 1878 in Geneva and named it after Ytterby, Sweden. In 1907 Georges Urbain showed that Marignac's ytterbium also contained lutetium.
Primary Uses
- Ytterbium-doped fiber lasers (cutting, welding, marking)
- Atomic clocks
- Stainless steel alloys
- Portable X-ray sources (Yb-169)
- Stress gauges
- Special glass and ceramics
- Catalysts
Producing Projects
Companies
Found in Products
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