Ion-Adsorption Clay

Dysprosium

A heavy rare earth added in small amounts to magnets so they keep working when they get hot.

Rare Earth ElementsDy

Erbium

The rare earth that amplifies light inside a fibre-optic cable without ever turning it back into electricity.

Rare Earth ElementsEr

Europium

The rare earth that glows red under ultraviolet light, and which for decades put the red in every colour television.

Rare Earth ElementsEu

Gadolinium

A rare earth that absorbs neutrons better than almost anything, and that makes MRI scans easier to read.

Rare Earth ElementsGd

Holmium

The rare earth with the strongest magnetic moment of any element, used in the pole pieces of the most powerful…

Rare Earth ElementsHo

Lutetium

The last and densest rare earth, used in the crystals that detect gamma rays inside a PET scanner.

Rare Earth ElementsLu

Rare Earths (all)

A family of seventeen metals that are not actually rare in the ground, but are hard to separate from each other…

Rare Earth Elements

Scandium

A light metal that makes aluminium dramatically stronger and weldable — and which is produced in tonnes per year…

Rare Earth ElementsSc

Terbium

The scarcest of the four magnet rare earths, used in tiny quantities to make a magnet survive high temperature.

Rare Earth ElementsTb

Thulium

The least abundant stable rare earth, used in portable X-ray sources and in surgical lasers.

Rare Earth ElementsTm

Ytterbium

A rare earth used in the fibre lasers that cut steel in factories, and in some of the most accurate atomic clocks…

Rare Earth ElementsYb

Yttrium

Counted as a rare earth even though it sits elsewhere on the periodic table, because it behaves like one and is found…

Rare Earth ElementsY