Ytterbium Yb

Ytterbium, named after a Swedish village, is another soft and bright silvery metal with various applications. Ytterbium-169 is a radiation source for portable X-ray machines and it is also used in nuclear medicine. Ytterbium is doped to stainless steel to enhance its mechanical properties. Low concentrations of ytterbium are doped to active laser media to create powerful lasers. Ytterbium is used in the world’s most stable atomic clock and it is also used in stress gauges to monitor deformation form earthquakes and explosions on the ground.