Effect of samarium doping on electrodeposited CeO₂ thin film

Abstract

Abstract Samarium‐doped cerium oxide (CeO 2 :Sm) and undoped cerium oxide (CeO 2 ) thin films were fabricated by electrodeposition on biaxially textured Ni–3% W substrates. The electrodeposited layers were annealed for several hours at temperatures ranging from 910 to 980 °C. The resulting crystalline films were investigated by XRD and SEM. The CeO 2 crystallite size was correlated to the formation of microcrack in CeO 2 and CeO 2 :Sm using the Scherrer equation of XRD analysis. Crack‐free films with an average grain size of about 28 nm were obtained for both Ce 0.92 Sm 0.08 O 2– δ and Ce 0.8 Sm 0.2 O 2– δ films. Sm doping strongly affects the crystallite size, crystal structure, texture, and crack formation in ceria films. The lattice parameter a increases and crystallite size is reduced with increased Sm doping. All electrodeposited films are highly biaxially textured. When compared to Ni‐based substrates, improvements in the out‐of‐plane and in‐plane texture in ceria‐ and Sm‐doped ceria films were achieved. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)