Short- and Long-Range Order in Ytterbium-Doped Zirconia

— Raman spectra of zirconia doped with 10, 20, and 25% ytterbia have been measured using light sources with wavelengths of 785 and 532 nm. A number of bands have been shown to depend on the laser wavelength used, that is, they cannot be Stokes bands. Analysis of Stokes bands has made it possible to describe the structure of the samples containing 10 and 20% ytterbium as a defect pyrochlore structure, which points to changes in the local symmetry of oxygen around cations on cooling to room temperature.