Kinetics of stabilized cubic zirconia formation from MnO ₂-ZrO₂ diffusion couple

Microstructure and kinetics of the cubic phase formation are studied in ZrO₂-MnO₂ diffusion couple. During annealing in Ar, no other compounds are detected except the zirconia solution. With diffusion of Mn ions from manganese oxide to ZrO₂, the cubic zirconia are found at the phase interface. The growth kinetics of the cubic zirconia solution layer in the submicrometer scale are analyzed. The growth behavior of the cubic zirconia layer is better described by the grain boundary diffusion model, and our experiment data exhibit a t ^1/4 dependence on time. The deviation from the experiment data to the theoretical value is also explained.