“…In view of the research background as mentioned above, we have made experimental developments in the mixing techniques in LaB 6 , 3,4 for example, mixing of samarium with lanthanum atoms at 40% concentration would produce a reduction in work function, and we expect the same would hold true in neodymium-mixed LaB 6 . We also have made characterizational developments in the orientation texture measurement of crystallographic planes in rare-earth-based polycrystalline structures with the key stereological approach named the "five parameter analysis (FPA)" method, 14 which is based on the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique, and estimated the types and relative frequency of boundaries as a function of three Eulerian angle parameters (to describe the lattice misorientation across a boundary plane) and two spherical angle parameters (to describe the orientation of that boundary plane), 15 and the validity of the FPA method has been widely reported in a broad range of crystal symmetries. 16 Therefore, the current work attempts to comprehensively characterize the distribution features of interfaces (including grain boundaries as well as phase boundaries) in a typical Nd-mixed LaB 6 specimen via the FPA method, and is expected to provide beneficial clues for structure-property studies of rare-earth-based emitting materials.…”