With global demand for clean energy, electric vehicles, and advanced electronics soaring, so too is demand for rare earth metals—a group of 17 essential elements. The elements —like neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium—power the motors in electric vehicles, the lasers in defense, and the phosphors on our smartphone screens. But isolating and studying these metals is no small feat. In rare earth metal research, just any furnace won't cut it. The precision, stability, and flexibility of the laboratory furnace can come a long way in deciding the success of thermal processing, synthesis, and purification.