Structural and optical properties of Nd doped LaPO4

In this study, effect of Nd doping, as a dopant material on the structural, optical and electronic properties of lanthanum monazite structure has been studied. Pure and Nd:LaPO4 powders with varying Nd con-centrations were prepared via conventional high-temperature solid-state reaction method. Compositional information obtained using Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that within the detection limit, no impurities were present in the samples. Oxidation states of the elements were confirmed from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (La and Nd) and X-ray absorption near edge structure studies (La). X-ray dif-fraction showed the formation of monoclinic crystal structure without any phase impurity. Fourier trans-form infra-red spectroscopic measurements confirmed the substitution of Nd in LaPO4 matrix. We also report the first ever local structure analysis using Extended X-ray absorption fine structure which showed that the Nd atoms have successfully substituted La atoms in LaPO4 matrix. The bandgaps were obtained from Diffuse reflectance UV-Visible spectroscopy. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effect of Nd doping on the structural, optical, and electronic properties of lanthanum monazite structure. Pure and Nd-doped LaPO4 powders were prepared and analyzed for their composition, oxidation states, crystal structure, and bandgaps. The results confirmed the successful substitution of Nd in the LaPO4 matrix and provided insights into the local structure using extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis.