Quantification of Yttria in Stabilized Zirconia by Raman Spectroscopy

The relationship between Y 2 O 3 content in tetragonal and cubic ZrO 2 phases and the shift of the Raman band at ∼645/cm was investigated. With increasing Y 2 O 3 content, the 645/cm Raman band position decreases to lower Raman shift values. A fit of x = Y 2 O 3 content in wt% and y = Raman band position in per cm, was found to be valid for low Y 2 O 3 ‐stabilized t‐ZrO 2 , t′′‐ZrO 2 transition, and fully stabilized c‐ZrO 2 . Modeling the change in lattice parameters due to the incorporation of Y 2 O 3 in ZrO 2 as obtained from Rietveld‐refined XRD data confirms that the peculiar sigmoidal form of the band shift with Y 2 O 3 content is mainly due to a variation of the amount of oxygen vacancies. The resultant method is highly attractive in fields of Y 2 O 3 determination in ZrO 2 materials where a fast, spatially resolved, and nondestructive analysis is required.