Technology

Rare earth elements (REEs) are known as ‘the Seeds of Technology’. These critical elements will empower new technologies and industries, accelerating the transition to a renewable future, and supporting applications to optimise our modern world.

We are living in a digital world; REEs are used in everyday devices such as the mobile phone; in the screens, speakers, circuits and to make it vibrate.

The rare earth element Erbium (Er) is a key enable of 5G technology; essentially, Erbium doped fibre amplifiers (EDFA) are used to compensate the loss of an optical fibre in long-distance optical communication and can amplify multiple optical signals simultaneously. No Er, No 5G.

The new frontier of medical devices use high-value REEs in applications such as:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines using Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb and Gd;
• Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging using Lu;
• X-rays, Solid-state lasers, optical isolators and microwave equipment using Er, Ho, Tm, Yb, Y;

To green the transportation industry away from fossil fuel use to renewable energy benefits greatly from the use of ultra-light-weight solutions to vehicle bodies. The future demand for aluminium alloys such as Al-Sc alloys, will strengthen its position as a key material for the future of transportation as electric vehicles become a vehicle of choice in the future. These alloys will ensure longer distances will be covered with the same battery capacity.

Nuclear power is another energy source which will accelerate the world to a net-zero future. Nuclear power plants use Samarium–Cobalt (SmCo) permanent magnets, and Dy & Er in neutron-absorbing control rods.

Fibre lasers are optically pumped devices mostly used with laser diodes, use REEs, which amplify produced light. With a large surface-to-volume ratio (heat dissipation is relatively low) fibre lasers are smaller and lighter in weight than traditional lasers.