Study of two tungstates Ca0.5 Cd0.5 WO4 and Ca0.2 Cd0.8 WO4 by transmission electron microscopy

To better understand the role of crystal structures and local disorder in the photonic properties of the system (1 - x)CaWO4  - xCdWO4 with 0 < x < 1, two specific phases with compositions x = 0.5 (scheelite phase) and 0.8 (wolframite phase) have been studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopies. High-resolution electron microscopy images and image simulations, associated with X-ray diffraction data, allowed confirming the lattices and space groups I41 /a and P2/c of the two scheelite and wolframite phases, at the local scale. The electron microscopy data show the existence of a high degree of crystallization associated with statistical distribution of Ca or Cd atoms on a Ca1- x Cdx site in each lattice.