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Title: Perturbed angular correlation investigation of zirconia ceramics

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6977997

A four-detector time differential perturbed angular correlation (PAC) spectrometer was built and has been used to characterize phases and study local properties and defect dynamics of pure zirconia, yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia, and yttria partially stabilized zirconia (Y-PSZ). The PAC spectra of pure zirconia were characterized by discrete frequencies. The electric field gradient (EFG) magnitude, the asymmetry parameter, and the EFG distribution were determined from the spectra by a least-square fitting procedure. The EFG in the monoclinic and tetragonal phase is weakly temperature-dependent and in larger in the tetragonal phase. The EFG was calculated using a point-ion charge model. The results agree qualitatively with the experimental data, but the calculated EFG magnitudes were typically 40-50% smaller than the experimental field gradients. PAC spectra in cubic stabilized zirconia are characterized by a wide frequency distribution. While spectra at highest and lowest temperatures are static, the spectra in the intermediate temperature range show relaxation phenomena arising from oxygen vacancy diffusion. PAC spectra in Y-PSZ show two components, one tetragonal-like, the other cubic-like. From a least-squares fitting procedure the phase boundary between the cubic and tetragonal-cubic mixed region was determined.

Research Organization:
Oregon State Univ., Corvallis (USA)
OSTI ID:
6977997
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English