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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Quantitative Atomic-Site Analysis of Functional Dopants/Point Defects in Crystalline Materials by Electron-Channeling-Enhanced Microanalysis
Published on: May 10, 2021
Study of defect sites in Ce1-xMxO2-δ (x = 0.2) solid solutions using Raman spectroscopy
Lan Li1, Fang Chen, Ji-Qing Lu
1Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China.
Abstract:
A series of Ce(1-x)M(x)O(2-δ) (M = Gd, Zr, La, Sm, Y, Lu, and Pr) samples were characterized by Raman spectroscopy to investigate the evolution of defect sites (oxygen vacancies and MO(8)-type complex) and their distributions in the samples. It was found that the evolution of oxygen vacancies was due to the different ionic valence state of dopant from that of Ce(4+), while the evolution of the MO(8)-type complex was due to the different ionic radius of dopant from that of Ce(4+). The distributions of defect sites were investigated using 325 and 514 nm excitation laser lines, indicating that the defect sites were surface enriched. Moreover, the increasing ordering level of the sample led to a decline in the concentration of the MO(8)-type complex in the sample but the constant concentration of oxygen vacancies, implying that the metastable MO(8)-type complex species were more disordered compared to the oxygen vacancies.
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