Rare earth element | Terbium (Tb)

In 1843, Karl G. Mosander of Sweden discovered the element terbium through his research on yttrium earth. The application of terbium mostly involves high-tech fields, which are technology intensive and knowledge intensive cutting-edge projects, as well as projects with significant economic benefits, with attractive development prospects. The main application areas include the following.

(1) Phosphors are used as green powder activators in three primary phosphors, such as terbium activated phosphate matrix, terbium activated silicate matrix, and terbium activated cerium magnesium aluminate matrix, which emit green light under excitation.

(2) Magnetic optical storage materials, in recent years, terbium based magnetic optical materials have reached a large-scale production scale. Magnetic optical discs developed using Tb-Fe amorphous thin films as computer storage components have increased storage capacity by 10-15 times.

(3) Magneto optical glass, Faraday rotatory glass containing terbium, is a key material for manufacturing rotators, isolators, and circulators widely used in laser technology. In particular, the development and development of terbium dysprosium ferromagnetostrictive alloy (TerFenol) has opened up new uses for terbium. Terfenol is a new material discovered in the 1970s, with half of the alloy being composed of terbium and dysprosium, sometimes with the addition of holmium, and the rest being iron. This alloy was first developed by the Ames Laboratory in Iowa, United States. When Terfenol is placed in a magnetic field, its size changes more than ordinary magnetic materials, This change can enable some precise mechanical movements to be achieved. Terbium dysprosium iron was initially mainly used in sonar and has been widely used in various fields, including fuel injection systems, liquid valve control, micro positioning, mechanical actuators, mechanisms, and wing regulators for aircraft and space telescopes.