Atomic Defects in Yttria Stabilized and Calcia Stabilized Zirconia Determined by Mechanical Loss Measurements

Mechanical loss (internal friction) experiments were applied to study the local crystallographic structure of atomic defects in cubic ZrO₂. Specimens with different longitudinal axis ([100], [110], [111]) were prepared from crystals of ZrO₂–10 mol% Y₂O₃ and ZrO₂–16 mol % CaO. The orientation dependence of the loss maxima indicates that defects of trigonal ([111]) symmetry are present consisting of oxygen vacancies on nearest neighbour sites to the dopant cations. The shape factor of the dipoles was determined as https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> δ λ ≈ 0.12 − 0.14 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003421290/07e4de97-c68f-4ca1-95b4-28d8b410031d/content/eq445.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> for Y₂O₃ and ≈ 0.05 for CaO doped ZrO₂.