Industrial growth of yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia crystals by skull melting process

We reported the development of a Φ100 cm growth apparatus for skull melting growth of yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia (YSZ) crystals and more than 1000 kg crystals have been grown in the furnace each time. The growth conditions were optimized and the structure of the as-grown crystals was characterized by X-ray diffraction. The transmittance of 15 mol.% yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia crystal was nearly 80% in the range of 400–1600 nm. The refractive indices were measured and fitted the Sellmeier equation which was obtained by least-squares method. The results showed that the apparatus was very suitable for industrial growth of YSZ crystals.