Electronic configuration of Ce and Gd in CexGd1−xN determined by XAFS (XANES and EXAFS) and magnetization measurements

Abstract Ce x Gd 1− x N were synthesized at various Ce atomic fractions x 's and the electronic configurations of Ce and Gd were evaluated from the XANES measurement and the magnetization measurement. The obtained effective magnetic moment μ eff was compared with the effective magnetic moment μ calc calculated from the theoretical magnetization of Ce:4f 0 , Ce:4f 1 and Gd:4f 7 . Ce L III -edge and Gd L III -edge XANES spectra were compared with those of standard compounds. Both the results showed that Gd has [Xe]4f 7 electronic configuration, and Ce has the mixed configuration of [Xe]4f 1 and [Xe]4f 0 when x  ≤ 0.5, and has [Xe]4f 0 configuration at higher x . The local structures around Ce and Gd elements were also determined by using EXAFS method and found that both of R Ce–N and R Gd–N increased with increasing x , and R Ce–N was always larger by an almost constant value than R Gd–N at any x .