ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the deployment of rare earth materials in the design and development of mm-systems and sensors. It identifies the rare earth elements, oxides, alloys, and compounds best suited for the development of mm-wave devices, components, and sensors. There are other rare earth materials which are characterized as hard ceramics; they are widely used as substrates in microwave and mm-wave devices. Some specialized materials have multiple applications in various commercial, industrial, medical, and scientific research applications. Rare earth material scientists claim that Gadolinium’s atomic structure, ionization energy, room-temperature electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity are best suited for Magnetic resonance imaging and other medical diagnosis applications. The thin films of suitable rare earth materials are widely used for superconducting microwave filters, where minimum insertion loss, high-quality factors, reliability, and consistent device performance are the principal performance requirements. Thorium is referred to as a lanthanide rare earth material and widely deployed for nuclear power plant applications.
