Low-temperature spectroscopy of optical centers in cerium-yttrium (Ce1-<i>x</i>Y<i>x</i>O2-<i>x</i>/2) and cerium-zirconium (Ce1-<i>x</i>Zr<i>x</i>O2) oxides

Abstract

The results of studying the impact of isovalent (Zr4+) and non-isovalent (Y3+) impurity ions on the formation of oxygen vacancies in the lattice of cerium dioxide nanocrystals. It is shown that the oxygen vacancy content increases significantly with the introduction of both the Y3+ and Zr4+ ions, and that the oxygen vacancies play a part in the formation of two types of optical centers: Ce3+-V··-Ce3+ and F+-centers. The ratio of these optical centers can be manipulated by varying the concentration of impurity ions and the atmosphere of high-temperature nanocrystal processing.