Thulium

Thulium (Tm) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Thulium research intensity sits at about 97% of the element's all-time peak, a peak that occurred within this window in 2024.

Research intensity ran from about 68% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 97% in 2026 — a steady climb, and the all-time peak (2024) falls inside this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, thulium has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 746 in 2016 to about 1,655 in 2025 (2.22x). That matches the growth of the literature as a whole over the same years: the general tide of scientific output, not a surge specific to the element.

The dominant research community is Thulium Fiber Laser in Urologic Endoscopy, which accounts for about 43% of the element's recent research. This community focuses on comparative trials of thulium fiber laser against holmium laser for transurethral resection and intrarenal stone surgery. Thulium is a minor presence in this much larger community, with about 10% of its papers involving thulium. The community's share has risen significantly, growing from about 26% in the earlier period to its current level. Key work includes a 2024 study on flexible suction ureteral access sheaths in retrograde intrarenal surgery, cited over 150 times, and a 2022 randomized clinical trial comparing thulium fiber laser versus Holmium:YAG for ureteroscopic lithotripsy, cited over 200 times.

A second major area is Thulium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers and Lasers, representing about 22% of recent research. Here, thulium serves as the gain medium in fiber lasers, enabling single-longitudinal-mode and multi-wavelength operation. Thulium is a minor presence in this community, with about 2% of its papers involving thulium. This share has remained steady, holding near 22% across the window. Notable contributions include a 2023 paper on a widely-tunable all-fiber Tm doped MOPA with over 1 kW of output power, cited about 61 times, and a 2023 demonstration of an outdoor 2-μm-band real-time video transmission system using a self-designed single-frequency fiber laser, cited about 56 times.

The third community, Thulium-Doped Fiber Lasers and Ultrafast Pulse Generation, accounts for about 11% of recent research. This work centers on generating ultrafast optical pulses through mode-locked and Q-switched operation. Thulium is a minor presence here, with about 1% of the community's papers involving thulium. This share has declined from about 21% in the earlier period. Representative work includes a 2025 study on intelligent soliton molecules control in an ultrafast thulium fiber laser, cited about 26 times, and a 2017 paper on all polarization-maintaining fiber laser architecture for robust femtosecond pulse generation, cited over 310 times.

Other research communities hold the remaining share, which has remained steady at about 24%. The overall composition shows a consolidation toward urologic applications, while the share of work focused on ultrafast pulse generation has decreased.

For a deeper look at the current state of thulium research, see the element's Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.