The phase relations and equations of state of ZrO 2 and HfO 2 high-pressure polymorphs have been investigated by means of in situ observation using multi-anvil type high-pressure devices and synchrotron radiation. Baddeleyite (monoclinic ZrO 2 ) transforms to two distorted fluorite (CaF 2 )-type phases at 3-4 GPa depending on temperature: an orthorhombic phase, orthoI, below 600 °C and a tetragonal phase, which is one of the high-temperature forms of ZrO 2 , above 600 °C. Both orthoI and tetragonal phases then transform into another orthorhombic phase, orthoII, with a cotunnite (PbCl 2 )-type structure above 12.5 GPa and the phase boundary is almost independent of temperature. OrthoII is stable up to 1800 °C and 24 GPa. In case of HfO 2 , orthoI is stable from 4 to 14.5 GPa below 1250-1400 °C and transforms to the tetragonal phase above these temperatures. OrthoII of HfO 2 appears above 14.5 GPa and is stable up to 1800 °C at 21 GPa. The unit cell parameters and the volumes of these high-pressure phases have been determined as functions of pressure and temperature. The orthoI/tetragonal-to-orthoII transition of both ZrO 2 and HfO 2 is accompanied by about 9% volume decrease. The bulk moduli of orthoII calculated using Birch-Murnaghan's equations of state are 296 GPa and 312 GPa for ZrO 2 and HfO 2 , respectively. Since orthoII of both ZrO 2 and HfO 2 are quenchable to ambient conditions, these are candidates for super-hard materials.
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Ohtaka et al. (2002) studied this question.