Tm69
Thulium
The rarest stable rare earth — portable X-rays and precision surgical lasers.
Thulium is the least abundant of the stable rare earths, scarcer in the crust than gold is in economic terms of separated supply. Irradiated thulium-170 serves as a compact X-ray source in portable medical and industrial imaging devices that operate without electricity. Thulium fiber lasers are gaining ground in urology and soft-tissue surgery, offering finer control than the incumbent holmium systems. Volumes are tiny, and thulium is recovered only as a trace fraction of heavy REE separation.
Key Applications
- Thulium fiber lasers for surgery and materials processing
- Portable X-ray sources (Tm-170)
- Dopants for solid-state lasers and microwave devices
- High-temperature superconductor research
Key Facts
- Atomic number
- 69
- Abundance
- Rarest stable REE
- Flagship use
- Fiber lasers, X-ray sources
- Supply
- Trace separation fraction
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