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Microstructure Evolution and Cation Interdiffusion in Thin Sm 2 O 3 Films on CeO 2 Substrates
Author(s) -
Rockenhäuser Christian,
Butz Benjamin,
Störmer Heike,
Gerthsen Dagmar
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.13044
Subject(s) - analytical chemistry (journal) , arrhenius equation , crystallography , annealing (glass) , bixbyite , chemistry , crystallite , transmission electron microscopy , microstructure , phase (matter) , thin film , activation energy , materials science , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chromatography , composite material
Samaria ( Sm 2 O 3 ) thin films with a thickness of 180 nm were deposited on polycrystalline CeO 2 substrates by pulsed layer deposition to study phase formation and bulk cation interdiffusion in the Ce 1− x Sm x O 2− x /2 system after annealing at temperatures between 987°C and 1266°C. Transmission electron microscopy combined with electron diffraction and analytical techniques was applied for phase determination. The cubic fluorite and cubic bixbyite phases were observed at low and intermediate Sm concentrations. The monoclinic phase occurs only at very high Sm concentrations due to the low Ce ‐solubility in Sm 2 O 3 . Furthermore, a cubic phase with I2 1 3 structure was observed at higher Sm concentrations. Cation interdiffusion coefficients were derived from Sm concentration profiles across the Sm 2 O 3 / CeO 2 interface using the diffusion–couple solution of the diffusion equation. The temperature dependence of interdiffusion coefficients is well described by an Arrhenius‐type relation, which yields an activation enthalpy of 2.26 eV/atom for bulk cation interdiffusion.