Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2025

Tuning Oxide Properties by Oxygen Vacancy Control During Growth and Annealing
Published on: June 9, 2023
Direct observation of oxygen vacancy ordering evolution in cerium oxide at varying concentrations via high-resolution
Yong Ding1, Yuzi Liu2, Yu Chen1
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
Abstract:
Under illumination by a 300 keV electron beam, oxygen vacancy ordering structures are induced within cerium oxide grains. Our high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) study, supported by image simulation, reveals the evolution of these structures as vacancy concentration increases. The observed fluorite-type superlattice structures are identified as CeO1.825, CeO1.75, Ce2O3, displaying a gradient in oxygen vacancy concentration moving away from the grain surface. Correspondingly, the structural sequence transitions from Ce2O3 to CeO1.75 and then to CeO1.825. Without the constraints of surrounding grains, fluorite-type Ce2O3 nanocrystals show a preference for transformation into an A-type trigonal structure. Notably, at temperatures up to 200°C, only the perfect fluorite structure is observed. Structural models were validated through both [110] and [001] projections. Our findings further confirm lattice expansion associated with local oxygen vacancy enrichment, which can be compensated by the formation of stacking faults, where a {111} oxygen plane is lost at defect sites.
More Related Videos
07:24Quantitative Atomic-Site Analysis of Functional Dopants/Point Defects in Crystalline Materials by Electron-Channeling-Enhanced Microanalysis
Published on: May 10, 2021
10:23Author Spotlight: A Machine-Vision Approach to Transmission Electron Microscopy Workflows, Results Analysis and Data Management
Published on: June 23, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Electron Configuration of Multielectron Atoms
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Fundamental Principles
Accelerated...
Transmission Electron Microscopy
Electron Microscope Tomography and Single-particle Reconstruction
Electron Tomography
Electron tomography can be performed either in TEM or STEM (scanning transmission...
Cryo-electron Microscopy
Overview of Electron Microscopy