It has been known for a long time that electron irradiation induces damage in maximal valence transition metal oxides such as TiO2, V2O5, and WO3, of which transition metal ions have an empty d-shell. This type of damage is excited by electronic transition and can be explained by the Knoteck-Feibelman mechanism (K-F mechanism). Although the K-F mechanism predicts that no damage should occur in transition metal oxides of which the transition metal ions have a partially filled d-shell, namely submaximal valence transition metal oxides, our recent study on ReO3 shows that submaximal valence transition metal oxides undergo damage during electron irradiation.ReO3 has a nearly cubic structure and contains a single unit in its cell: a = 3.73 Å, and α = 89°34'. TEM specimens were prepared by depositing dry powders onto a holey carbon film supported on a copper grid. Specimens were examined in Hitachi H-9000 and UHV H-9000 electron microscopes both operated at 300 keV accelerating voltage. The electron beam flux was maintained at about 10 A/cm2 during the observation.
