Short-range-order structure of amorphous hydrous erbium oxide

The hydrous lanthanide oxides comprise a complicated series of both crystalline and amorphous compounds. The amorphous short-range-order (SRO) phase of hydrous erbium oxide is the subject of this work. A thorough discussion of the instrumental arrangement and electronic counting chain for the X-radiation diffraction data collection is included. The scattering profiles for hydrous erbium oxide are shown and details of the ensuing data correction procedures are given. A radial distribution analysis of the calculated interference function, Si(S), was performed. SRO interatomic distances and the first-shell coordination number are reported. The mean Er-O bond distance is found to be 2.36 Å and the erbium metal is nine coordinated. Comparison of the experimental radial distribution curve to ones calculated from crystalline systems lend credibility to the experimentally determined distances.