Nanoscale manipulation of pyrochlore: new nanocomposite ionic conductors

The ionic conductivity of isometric pyrochlore, ideally A2B2O (7), is extremely sensitive to disordering of A- and B-site cations and oxygen anion vacancies. We report the first use of ion beam irradiation-induced disordering in Gd 2Ti 2O (7) to produce a strain-free, buried, disordered defect-fluorite layer approximately 12 nm thick within an ordered pyrochlore matrix. This approach provides a new means of creating nanoscale, mixed ionic-electronic conductors in pyrochlore ceramics, such as those required for solid-state electrochemical cells.