Microstructural study of thin films of 5 mol% gadolinia doped ceria prepared by pulsed laser ablation

Microstructural characterization of thin films of 5 mol% gadolinia doped ceria films deposited by pulsed laser ablation in the energy range 100–600 mJ/pulse has been investigated, as deposited films were found to be nanocrystalline with preferred orientation. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the size of the nanocrystals of doped ceria does not vary significantly with increasing laser energy, whereas transmission electron microscopy study showed a uniform distribution of nanocrystal of 8–10 nm for energies ≤200 mJ/pulse and nanocrystals embedded in a large crystalline matrix of doped ceria for energies in the range 400–600 mJ/pulse. Although the laser-ablated films were totally free from secondary phases, lattice imaging of the large grained doped ceria showed growth-induced defects, such as dislocations and ledges.