Naturally occurring ytterbium (₇₀Yb) is composed of 7 stable isotopes,However, all seven of the isotopes are observationally stable, meaning that they are predicted to be radioactive but decay has not been observed yet. ¹⁶⁸Yb–¹⁷⁶Yb, with ¹⁷⁴Yb being the most abundant (31.83%

natural abundance In physics, natural abundance (NA) refers to the abundance of isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass (a weighted average, weighted by mole-fraction abundance figures) of these isotopes is the atomic ...

). Twenty-seven radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being ¹⁶⁹Yb with a half-life of 32.026 days, ¹⁷⁵Yb with a half-life of 4.185 days, and ¹⁶⁶Yb with a half-life of 56.7 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 2 hours, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 20 minutes. This element also has 12 meta states, with the most stable being ^169mYb (t_1/2 46 seconds). The isotopes of ytterbium range in atomic weight from 147.967 u (¹⁴⁸Yb) to 180.9562 u (¹⁸¹Yb). The primary

decay mode Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

before the most abundant stable isotope, ¹⁷⁴Yb is electron capture, and the primary mode after is beta emission. The primary

decay product In nuclear physics, a decay product (also known as a daughter product, daughter isotope, radio-daughter, or daughter nuclide) is the remaining nuclide left over from radioactive decay. Radioactive decay often proceeds via a sequence of steps ( ...

s before ¹⁷⁴Yb are

isotopes of thulium Naturally occurring thulium (69Tm) is composed of one stable isotope, 169Tm (100% natural abundance). Thirty-four radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being 171Tm with a half-life of 1.92 years, 170Tm with a half-life of 128 ...

, and the primary products after are

isotopes of lutetium Naturally occurring lutetium (71Lu) is composed of one stable isotope 175Lu (97.41% natural abundance) and one long-lived radioisotope, 176Lu with a half-life of 3.78 × 1010 years (2.59% natural abundance). Thirty-five radioisotopes have been cha ...

. Of interest to modern quantum optics, the different ytterbium isotopes follow either Bose–Einstein statistics or

Fermi–Dirac statistics Fermi–Dirac statistics (F–D statistics) is a type of quantum statistics that applies to the physics of a system consisting of many non-interacting, identical particles that obey the Pauli exclusion principle. A result is the Fermi–Dirac di ...

, leading to interesting behavior in optical lattices.

List of isotopes

, - , ¹⁴⁸Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 78 , 147.96742(64)# , 250# ms , β⁺ , ¹⁴⁸Tm , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁴⁹Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 79 , 148.96404(54)# , 0.7(2) s , β⁺ , ¹⁴⁹Tm , (1/2+, 3/2+) , , , - , ¹⁵⁰Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 80 , 149.95842(43)# , 700# ms 200 ns, β⁺ , ¹⁵⁰Tm , 0+ , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁵¹Yb , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 81 , rowspan=2, 150.95540(32) , rowspan=2, 1.6(5) s , β⁺ , ¹⁵¹Tm , rowspan=2, (1/2+) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (rare) , ¹⁵⁰Er , - , rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" , ^151m1Yb , rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 750(100)# keV , rowspan=2, 1.6(5) s , β⁺ , ¹⁵¹Tm , rowspan=2, (11/2−) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (rare) , ¹⁵⁰Er , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^151m2Yb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1790(500)# keV , 2.6(7) μs , , , 19/2−# , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^151m3Yb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2450(500)# keV , 20(1) μs , , , 27/2−# , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁵²Yb , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 82 , rowspan=2, 151.95029(22) , rowspan=2, 3.04(6) s , β⁺ , ¹⁵²Tm , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (rare) , ¹⁵¹Er , - , rowspan=3, ¹⁵³Yb , rowspan=3 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=3 style="text-align:right" , 83 , rowspan=3, 152.94948(21)# , rowspan=3, 4.2(2) s , α (50%) , ¹⁴⁹Er , rowspan=3, 7/2−# , rowspan=3, , rowspan=3, , - , β⁺ (50%) , ¹⁵³Tm , - , β⁺, p (.008%) , ¹⁵²Er , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^153mYb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2700(100) keV , 15(1) μs , , , (27/2−) , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁵⁴Yb , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 84 , rowspan=2, 153.946394(19) , rowspan=2, 0.409(2) s , α (92.8%) , ¹⁵⁰Er , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺ (7.119%) , ¹⁵⁴Tm , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁵⁵Yb , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 85 , rowspan=2, 154.945782(18) , rowspan=2, 1.793(19) s , α (89%) , ¹⁵¹Er , rowspan=2, (7/2−) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺ (11%) , ¹⁵⁵Tm , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁵⁶Yb , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 86 , rowspan=2, 155.942818(12) , rowspan=2, 26.1(7) s , β⁺ (90%) , ¹⁵⁶Tm , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , α (10%) , ¹⁵²Er , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁵⁷Yb , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 87 , rowspan=2, 156.942628(11) , rowspan=2, 38.6(10) s , β⁺ (99.5%) , ¹⁵⁷Tm , rowspan=2, 7/2− , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , α (.5%) , ¹⁵³Er , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁵⁸Yb , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 70 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 88 , rowspan=2, 157.939866(9) , rowspan=2, 1.49(13) min , β⁺ (99.99%) , ¹⁵⁸Tm , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , α (.0021%) , ¹⁵⁴Er , - , ¹⁵⁹Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 89 , 158.94005(2) , 1.67(9) min , β⁺ , ¹⁵⁹Tm , 5/2(−) , , , - , ¹⁶⁰Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 90 , 159.937552(18) , 4.8(2) min , β⁺ , ¹⁶⁰Tm , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁶¹Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 91 , 160.937902(17) , 4.2(2) min , β⁺ , ¹⁶¹Tm , 3/2− , , , - , ¹⁶²Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 92 , 161.935768(17) , 18.87(19) min , β⁺ , ¹⁶²Tm , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁶³Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 93 , 162.936334(17) , 11.05(25) min , β⁺ , ¹⁶³Tm , 3/2− , , , - , ¹⁶⁴Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 94 , 163.934489(17) , 75.8(17) min , EC , ¹⁶⁴Tm , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁶⁵Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 95 , 164.93528(3) , 9.9(3) min , β⁺ , ¹⁶⁵Tm , 5/2− , , , - , ¹⁶⁶Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 96 , 165.933882(9) , 56.7(1) h , EC , ¹⁶⁶Tm , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁶⁷Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 97 , 166.934950(5) , 17.5(2) min , β⁺ , ¹⁶⁷Tm , 5/2− , , , - , ¹⁶⁸Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 98 , 167.933897(5) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo α decay to ¹⁶⁴Er or β⁺β⁺ decay to ¹⁶⁸Er with a half-life over 130×10¹² years , 0+ , 0.0013(1) , , - , ¹⁶⁹Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 99 , 168.935190(5) , 32.026(5) d , EC , ¹⁶⁹Tm , 7/2+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^169mYb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 24.199(3) keV , 46(2) s , IT , ¹⁶⁹Yb , 1/2− , , , - , ¹⁷⁰Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 100 , 169.9347618(26) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo α decay to ¹⁶⁶Er , 0+ , 0.0304(15) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^170mYb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1258.46(14) keV , 370(15) ns , , , 4− , , , - , ¹⁷¹Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 101 , 170.9363258(26) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo α decay to ¹⁶⁷Er , 1/2− , 0.1428(57) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^171m1Yb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 95.282(2) keV , 5.25(24) ms , IT , ¹⁷¹Yb , 7/2+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^171m2Yb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 122.416(2) keV , 265(20) ns , , , 5/2− , , , - , ¹⁷²Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 102 , 171.9363815(26) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo α decay to ¹⁶⁸Er , 0+ , 0.2183(67) , , - , ¹⁷³Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 103 , 172.9382108(26) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo α decay to ¹⁶⁹Er , 5/2− , 0.1613(27) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^173mYb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 398.9(5) keV , 2.9(1) μs , , , 1/2− , , , - , ¹⁷⁴Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 104 , 173.9388621(26) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo α decay to ¹⁷⁰Er , 0+ , 0.3183(92) , , - , ¹⁷⁵Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 105 , 174.9412765(26) , 4.185(1) d , β⁻ , ¹⁷⁵Lu , 7/2− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^175mYb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 514.865(4) keV , 68.2(3) ms , , , 1/2− , , , - , ¹⁷⁶Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 106 , 175.9425717(28) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo α decay to ¹⁷²Er or β⁻β⁻ decay to ¹⁷⁶Hf with a half-life over 160×10¹⁵ years , 0+ , 0.1276(41) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^176mYb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1050.0(3) keV , 11.4(3) s , , , (8)− , , , - , ¹⁷⁷Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 107 , 176.9452608(28) , 1.911(3) h , β⁻ , ¹⁷⁷Lu , (9/2+) , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^177mYb , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 331.5(3) keV , 6.41(2) s , IT , ¹⁷⁷Yb , (1/2−) , , , - , ¹⁷⁸Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 108 , 177.946647(11) , 74(3) min , β⁻ , ¹⁷⁸Lu , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁷⁹Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 109 , 178.95017(32)# , 8.0(4) min , β⁻ , ¹⁷⁹Lu , (1/2−) , , , - , ¹⁸⁰Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 110 , 179.95233(43)# , 2.4(5) min , β⁻ , ¹⁸⁰Lu , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁸¹Yb , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 111 , 180.95615(43)# , 1# min , β⁻ , ¹⁸¹Lu , 3/2−# , , , - , ¹⁸²YbCluster decay daughter of ''²³²Th'' , style="text-align:right" , 70 , style="text-align:right" , 112 , , > 160 ns , β⁻ , ¹⁸²Lu , 0+ , ,

References

* Isotope masses from: ** * Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from: ** ** * Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources. ** ** ** {{Authority control Ytterbium Ytterbium