Effect of samarium doping on electrodeposited CeO2 thin film

Samarium-doped cerium oxide (CeO2: Sm) and undoped cerium oxide (CeO2) 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 9 10 to 980 degrees C. The resulting crystalline films were investigated by XRD and SEM. The CeO2 crystallite size was correlated to the formation of microcrack in CeO2 and CeO2: Sm using the Scherrer equation of XRD analysis. Crack-free films with an average grain size of about 28 nm were obtained for both Ce0.92SM0.08O2-delta and Ce0.8Sm0.2O2-delta 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. (c) 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.