Ytterbium
Iterbio (Yb, Z=70)
- Date
- 1878 · confidence high
- Place
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Credited to
- Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac
- People
- 👤 Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac1817–1894
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Marignac separated a new earth from erbia, ytterbia, which itself turned out to contain lutetium.
Urbain and Auer von Welsbach showed in 1907 that ytterbia contained lutetium.
What it led to
- Ytterbium optical lattice clocks
- High-power fibre lasers for industrial cutting
- Discovery of lutetium
Built on
- Erbia
- Thermal decomposition of nitrates
Made possible
- Ytterbium optical clock
- Yb fibre laser