Synthesis of CeO2 microcrystals fabricated on biaxially textured Ni-W substrate by using an e-beam evaporation technique

Cerium-oxide (CeO2) microcrystals have been synthesized on a biaxially textured Ni-5%W (200) substrate by using the Electron beam (e-beam) evaporation technique with CeO2 powder as the source material. The substrate temperature and electron beam gun power at which the microcrystals were formed were 400°C and 400 W, respectively. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the crystallinity and a (111) orientation of the CeO2 crystals. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) image showed that the CeO2 crystals had large lateral dimensions in the range from 0.5 to 2.0 μm. The Raman spectrum shows only one peak at 464 cm−1 corresponding to the of F2g mode of the CeO2 crystals. No reports are available on the preparation of CeO2 crystals with such a large size on textured Ni-W substrate by using e-beam evaporation technique.