Erbium connects the periodic table to optical communication. Adding it to glass fiber enables amplification of the light signals traveling through the fiber. Erbium compounds also color glass pink and contribute to specialized optical materials, linking information transmission with selective interactions between light and matter.
FROM ELEMENT TO APPLICATION
AN ELEMENT IN CONTEXT
How can an erbium-doped fiber amplify a signal without creating energy?
Erbium-doped glass-fiber amplifier
FOLLOW THIS RELATIONSHIP
Guide signal and pump light
An erbium-doped glass fiber receives an optical signal and pump energy. The glass host guides light while erbium supplies useful optical transitions.
Explore the model (optional)
ErFORM → INTERACTION → CONSEQUENCE
Follow the explanation in either direction. These are authored steps, not a physical clock.
Optional: check your understanding
USE THE EXPLANATION
Where does the extra signal energy come from?
Atomic identity, reference properties and structure models
INTERACTIVE 3D68 visible sites
An electron censusDrag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom
[Xe] 4f12 6s2. Grouping electrons by principal shell connects the neutral-atom configuration to periodic-table patterns.
What this representation means
A three-dimensional counting diagram. Dots are count markers, not measured electron positions; spherical placement and spacing are arbitrary. There are no electron trajectories here. Orbitals describe quantum states.
Carl Gustav Mosander distinguished erbium-bearing material in 1843 while separating constituents of yttria. Early fractions still contained other rare-earth elements, so this was not the preparation of modern pure erbium metal. Wilhelm Klemm and Heinrich Bommer obtained pure metal in 1934. The long interval reinforces a useful distinction: identifying an elemental constituent, purifying its compounds, and preparing the metal are separate experimental achievements.
Erbium is found in rare-earth including monazite and bastnaesite, accompanied by chemically similar elements. supplies erbium compounds for glasses and other specialized materials. A tiny addition to an optical fiber can therefore originate in a complex mineral mixture that looks nothing like the finished transparent device.
Erbium in suitable hosts absorb and emit light at characteristic . In optical fibers, this behavior supports amplification of telecommunications signals. Erbium oxide also colors glass. Host composition and excitation determine the response, so the color of a glass and the signal amplified by a fiber are different observations.
Each section links its supporting references. Descriptions and diagrams were authored for this atlas. Source checks completed. Source checks dated 2026-09-06.
CITE THIS PAGE
Family labels and the group-3 layout are teaching conventions. A table position does not establish an unknown bulk property. Electronic configurations refer to neutral atoms; ions and material environments require their own account.
Read each reference property together with its units, conditions and the reference information below.
Not yet recorded: electron affinity, second ionization energy, ground-state term symbol, van der waals radius, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, electrical resistivity, crystal structure, lattice parameter a, space group, abundance in seawater, abundance in the universe, annual production, supply-risk listing, hazard classification, biological role, cas registry number, pubchem cid, wikidata item. These families are declared and awaiting an ingestion run against the source each names; they are listed here rather than shown as empty rows.
Physical
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Phase at 20 °C
solid
293.15 K, 101.325 kPa
Melting point in K
1802 K
at standard pressure unless noted
Boiling point in K
3141 K
101.325 kPa
Density in g/cm³
9.07 g/cm³
solids and liquids at 293 K; gases at 273 K and 101.325 kPa
Atomic and electronic
Intended reference: Pauling electronegativity scale · Widely tabulated; original in The Nature of the Chemical Bond
Electronegativity in Pauling
1.24 Pauling
Pauling scale
First ionization energy in kJ/mol
589.3 kJ/mol
gas-phase neutral atom, ground state
Covalent radius in pm
189 pm
single-bond covalent radius
Common oxidation states
+3
states met in ordinary compounds; not exhaustive
Occurrence and identity
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Abundance in the crust in mg/kg
3.5 mg/kg
upper continental crust, mass fraction
Has stable isotopes
Yesderived
Discovery year in CE
1843 CEderived
WHERE IT SITS AMONG ITS NEIGHBORS
Electronegativity across period 6
Er 1.24 Pauling · Erbium
Electronegativity across period 6. Exact values.
Cs
0.79
Ba
0.89
La
1.1
Ce
1.12
Pr
1.13
Nd
1.14
Sm
1.17
Eu
1.2
Gd
1.2
Tb
1.1
Dy
1.22
Ho
1.23
Er
1.24
Tm
1.25
Yb
1.1
Lu
1.27
Hf
1.3
Ta
1.5
W
2.36
Re
1.9
Os
2.2
Ir
2.2
Pt
2.28
Au
2.54
Hg
2
Tl
1.62
Pb
2.33
Bi
2.02
Po
2
At
2.2
The trend uses the same reference-property values as the periodic table. Elements with no recorded value are left out of the line rather than drawn at zero.
