Tellurium

Tellurium (Te) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Research intensity sits at about 82% of tellurium’s all-time peak, a level reached in 2016, which falls inside this window.

Research intensity ran from about 100% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 82% in 2026 — a net decline with recoveries along the way, and the all-time peak (2016) falls inside this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements fell. Among the 118 elements, tellurium has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 5,799 in 2016 to about 10,373 in 2025 (1.79x). 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 research community of Telluride Thin-Film Photovoltaics and Quantum Dots focuses on cadmium and zinc telluride compounds used in thin-film solar cells and quantum dot structures. Tellurium is one strand of a broader community, with about 20% of its papers involving the element. This community holds about 21% of tellurium's recent research, a steady share compared to the previous period. A 2023 paper on CdTe-based thin film photovoltaics, cited over 400 times, anchors this work, alongside a 2024 study on silver telluride colloidal quantum dots, cited over 230 times.

Another community, Telluride Thin Films and Topological Insulators, centers on bismuth antimony telluride thin films, lead telluride, and topological insulator properties. Here, tellurium is one strand of a broader community, appearing in about 14% of its papers. It accounts for about 20% of tellurium's recent research, maintaining a steady share. Key contributions include a 2022 paper on high-entropy GeTe-based thermoelectrics, cited over 730 times, and a 2025 study on quadruple-band synglisis in tin sulfide crystals, cited over 260 times.

A third community, also labeled Telluride Thin Films and Topological Insulators, involves synthesizing bismuth, gallium, and chromium telluride films to study nonlinear optical and topological properties. Tellurium is a minor presence in this much larger community, with about 2% of its papers involving the element. It represents about 10% of tellurium's recent research, a steady share. Notable work includes a 2016 discovery of robust in-plane ferroelectricity in atomic-thick SnTe, cited over 1,100 times, and a 2020 paper on stable mid-infrared polarization imaging, cited over 480 times.

Overall, the composition of tellurium research has remained steady across the two five-year periods, with the "Other research communities" band holding about 49% of the recent literature.

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