Terbium(III) oxide, also known as terbium sesquioxide, is a sesquioxide of the rare earth metal

terbium Terbium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Tb and atomic number 65. It is a silvery-white, rare earth element, rare earth metal that is malleable and ductile. The ninth member of the lanthanide series, terbium is a fairly ele ...

, having

chemical formula A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as pare ...

. It is a p-type

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

, which conducts protons, which is enhanced when doped with

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

. It may be prepared by the reduction of in

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

at 1300 °C for 24 hours. : It is a basic oxide and easily dissolved to dilute acids, and then almost colourless terbium salt is formed. : Tb₂O₃ + 6 H⁺ → 2 Tb³⁺ + 3 H₂O The crystal structure is

cubic Cubic may refer to: Science and mathematics * Cube (algebra), "cubic" measurement * Cube, a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex ** Cubic crystal system, a crystal system w ...

and the

lattice constant A lattice constant or lattice parameter is one of the physical dimensions and angles that determine the geometry of the unit cells in a crystal lattice, and is proportional to the distance between atoms in the crystal. A simple cubic crystal has ...

is ''a'' = 1057 pm.N. C. Baenzinger, H. A. Eick, H. S. Schuldt, L. Eyring: ''Terbium Oxides. III. X-Ray Diffraction Studies of Several Stable Phases''. In: ''

Journal of the American Chemical Society The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' (also known as JACS) is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ...

'', 1961, 83, 10, S. 2219-23.

References

Terbium compounds Sesquioxides Semiconductor materials {{inorganic-compound-stub