Yttria-stabilized zirconia is known to not be completely stabilized in the pure cubic YSZ phase up to temperatures above 1000 °C (Ref. and publications therein), commonly used abbreviations in conjunction with yttria-stabilized zirconia are: The thermal expansion coefficients depends on the modification of zirconia as follows: By the addition of yttria to pure zirconia (e.g., fully stabilized YSZ) Y ions replace Zr on the cationic sublattice. Thereby, oxygen vacancies are generated due to charge neutrality: formula_4 with formula_5, meaning two Y ions generate one vacancy on the anionic sublattice. This facilitates moderate conductivity of yttrium stabilized zirconia for O ions (and thus
Cubic zirconia technique first applied to quartz and topaz has also been adapted to cubic zirconia: vacuum-sputtering an extremely thin layer of a precious metal (typically gold) or even certain metal oxides or nitrides amongst other coatings onto the finished stones creates an iridescent effect. This material is marketed as "mystic" by many dealers. Unlike diamond-like carbon and other hard synthetic ceramic coatings, the effect is not durable with decorative precious metal coatings due to their extremely low hardness compared to the substrate along with poor abrasion wear properties. There are a few key features of cubic zirconia which distinguish it from