Size-dependent strain in epitaxial (001) gadolinium-doped ceria nanoislands

We report size-dependent strain in epitaxial gadolinium doped ceria nanoislands, which was determined by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Reciprocal space sections of symmetric, (004) and asymmetric, (224) reflections are approximated by a model assuming size-dependent strain of the islands using real-space size distribution obtained by atomic force microscopy. We show that the islands smaller than 40 nm are subjected to a high level of lateral tensile strain and normal compression. The lateral to normal strain ratio determined from the reciprocal map analysis suggests that lateral tension is the primary stress generator, possibly due to oxygen vacancy ordering on the island-substrate interface.