Electrical Properties and Defect Structure of Zirconia: I, Monoclinic Phase

Abstract

The defect structure of monoclinic zirconia was investigated by measuring the oxygen partial pressure dependence of the electrical conductivity and sample weight. Techniques were developed to calculate the degree of nonstoichiometry and the mobility of the charge carriers from electrical and weight change data. ZRO 2 was found to be an amphoteric semiconductor at 1000°C with the transition from n‐type to p‐type conductivity occurring at 10–16 atm. The predominant defect in the oxygen excess region was shown to be completely ionized zirconium vacancies. The positive holes arising from the zirconium vacancies were found to have an extremely small mobility.