Samarium

Samarium (Sm) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Samarium’s research intensity currently sits at about 94% of its own all-time peak, a level reached within this window.

Research intensity ran from about 83% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 94% in 2026 — a rise to a mid-window peak followed by a fall back, and the all-time peak (2024) falls inside this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements held steady. Among the 118 elements, samarium has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 1,302 in 2016 to about 2,367 in 2025 (1.82x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.

The core of samarium’s recent research is found in Samarium Cobalt Permanent Magnet Development. This community focuses on the synthesis and magnetic properties of SmCo magnets, including 17-type variants and nanocomposites, rather than general rare earth recovery. Samarium is a minor presence in this much larger community, appearing in about 3% of its papers. It accounts for about 13% of samarium’s recent research, a share that has remained steady over the last decade. A 2024 paper on emerging magnetic materials for electric vehicle drive motors, cited about 32 times, highlights the ongoing interest in these applications.

A second significant area is Samarium Coordination Chemistry and Luminescent Properties. Here, researchers synthesize and characterize samarium complexes, including heteroleptic and divalent species, and study their luminescent behavior in optoelectronic contexts. Samarium is a minor presence in this community, involved in about 1% of its papers. It represents about 7% of samarium’s recent research, also holding steady. A 2022 study on the synthesis and photoluminescence of samarium dibenzoylmethanates, cited about 83 times, exemplifies the work in this field.

The third material community is Samarium as a Deep-Red Luminescent Dopant. These papers focus on samarium-doped materials that emit deep red or orange-red light, distinguishing them from broader upconversion themes. Samarium is a minor presence here as well, appearing in about 1% of the community’s papers. It makes up about 5% of samarium’s recent research, with a steady share. A 2022 paper on trivalent samarium-activated LaAlO3 nanocrystalline materials for solid-state lighting, cited about 60 times, illustrates this line of inquiry.

Overall, the composition of samarium research has been remarkably stable, with all three named communities holding steady shares. The remainder of the literature, which includes other smaller communities, accounts for about 74% of recent research, also showing a steady trend.

The most-cited paper of the window, "Ultrahigh energy storage in superparaelectric relaxor ferroelectrics" (2021), cited over 800 times, belongs to the Samarium Doping in Bismuth Titanate and Ferrite Ceramics community, which is not among the three primary communities detailed above.

For a deeper look at samarium’s current standing, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.