Electronic excitation induced phase transformation in Gd2Zr2O7 pyrochlore for extreme condition applications

Abstract

Isometric pyrochlore oxides (A2B2O7) have prodigious structural and physical properties and are used in a variety of applications like electrolytes, sensors, immobilization of radioactive nuclides, and so on. Herein, the electronic excitation-induced disorder engineering in the Gd2Zr2O7 system on irradiation of 100 MeV I7+ ions with the function of fluence has been investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy techniques were performed to probe the electronic excitation-induced phase transformation. Rietveld’s refinement of the pristine Gd2Zr2O7 sample confirmed an ordered pyrochlore phase. XRD studies show that the superstructure reflection disappeared with the enhanced fluence, which indicates pyrochlore to defect fluorite structure phase transformation. Raman spectroscopy results demonstrate that the structural modifications of Gd2Zr2O7 samples depend strongly on the ion fluence and degrees of disorder augmented with enhanced ion fluence. Both, the complementary techniques provide the compatible elucidation of structural modifications induced by the swift heavy ions (100 MeV iodine) and demonstrate that no amorphization was observed in the Gd2Zr2O7 samples even after irradiation at the highest fluence, and establish the capability of these samples for nuclear applications under hostile environment. Graphical abstract: Raman spectra recorded on Gd2Zr2O7 sample before and after irradiation with 100 MeV I7+ ions at a fluence of 1.0 × 1014 ions/cm2. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.