Ytterbium Foil (Light Tight)

Ytterbium Foil Light Tight offers the same ductility and reactivity as standard ytterbium foil but is manufactured to be completely free of pinholes, ensuring total opacity to light. This makes it highly suitable for optical shielding, sensitive photonic experiments, and applications requiring the prevention of light transmission. Industries such as photonics, vacuum technology, and sensor manufacturing use light-tight ytterbium foil for shielding sensitive optical detectors, isolating photoreactive materials, and protecting instruments from stray light interference. Specific applications include experimental setups in spectroscopy, optical bench isolation, and fabrication of photonic devices. In research, it supports studies where precise control of light exposure is essential. Its ability to combine rare-earth metal properties with complete light blockage makes it uniquely valuable in specialized optical and high-vacuum environments.

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Properties

Reference & Citations

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Material Properties for Metals

Atomic Properties

Element	Value
Atomic number	70
Crystal structure	Hexagonal close packed
Electronic structure	Xe 4f¹⁴ 6s²
Valences shown	2,3
Atomic weight( amu )	173.04
Thermal neutron absorption cross-section( Barns )	37
Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% )	173/ 16.2
Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% )	174/ 31.7
Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% )	172/ 21.9
Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% )	168/ 0.1
Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% )	170/ 3.1
Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% )	171/ 14.3
Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% )	176/ 12.7
Atomic radius - Goldschmidt( nm )	0.193
Ionisation potential( No./eV )	3/ 25.2
Ionisation potential( No./eV )	2/ 12.2
Ionisation potential( No./eV )	1/ 6.25

Mechanical Properties

Element	Value
Hardness - Brinell	25
Material condition	Polycrystalline
Poisson's ratio	0.28
Bulk modulus( GPa )	13.5
Tensile modulus( GPa )	17.8
Tensile strength( MPa )	68.9
Yield strength( MPa )	65.5

Electrical Properties

Element	Value
Electrical resistivity( µOhmcm )	28@20@20°C
Temperature coefficient( K⁻¹ )	0.0013@0-100°C

Physical Properties

Element	Value
Boiling point( C )	1194
Density( gcm⁻³ )	6.977@20°C

Thermal Properties

Element	Value
Melting point( C )	819
Latent heat of evaporation( J g⁻¹ )	921
Latent heat of fusion( J g⁻¹ )	53.2
Specific heat( J K⁻¹ kg⁻¹ )	145@25°C
Thermal conductivity( W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ )	32.9@0-100°C
Coefficient of thermal expansion( x10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ )	25@0-100°C