Thermal Flash Annealing Stabilizes the Tetragonal Phase in Zirconia Microarchitectures as Revealed by Europium Optical Probing
Abstract
Controlling polymorphism in ceramic microarchitectures is essential for linking processing, structure, and function yet remains difficult for ceramics produced by two-photon lithography (TPL). During thermal conversion, crystallite growth typically promotes the thermodynamically stable monoclinic (m) phase, restricting access to tetragonal (t)-ZrO 2 . Here, we show that infrared (IR) flash annealing stabilizes t-ZrO 2 microarchitectures over a broad 600-1000 °C treatment window. Rapid IR heating (20 °C s -1 ) limits crystallite growth and suppresses the t-to-m transformation commonly observed near 750 °C under slower annealing. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) confirms crystallite-size-dependent t-stabilization during rapid IR heating, while Europium (Eu 3+ ) serves as an embedded optical probe of local symmetry, providing distinct photoluminescence signatures without destructive preparation. Flash thermal processing controls polymorphism, while luminescent symmetry probing enables its non-destructive diagnosis in 3D ceramic microarchitectures, providing a transferable approach for studying phase evolution in lanthanide-doped ceramics.
Related
- First-Principles Calculations of Structural, Electronic, Optical, Vibrational, Dielectric, and Elastic Properties of Tetragonal Mg2TiO4 and Mg2TiO4:Mn4+
- Oxygen-plasma-assisted epitaxial growth of tetragonal CuO(001) and CoxCu1-xO(001) thin films
- A Stress-Induced Tetragonal Distortion in K2OsCl6 under Pressure
- Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Mg-Doped TiO2 Electron Transport Layer on the Performance of Tetragonal MAPbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells
- Ultrafast firing effects in Y-doped zirconia nanoparticles: Heating rate matters even under “Conventional” conditions
BibTeX
@article{roseroarias2026thermal,
title = {{Thermal Flash Annealing Stabilizes the Tetragonal Phase in Zirconia Microarchitectures as Revealed by Europium Optical Probing}},
author = {Cristian Rosero-Arias and Francisco Ruiz-Zepeda and Martin Drobek and Marie-Alix Pizzoccaro-Zilamy and Rogelio Salazar-Avila and Carolina Mendoza and Arturo Ponce and Alan Aguirre-Soto and Han Gardeniers and Arturo Susarrey-Arce},
journal = {ACS Materials Letters},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/acsmaterialslett.6c00406},
url = {https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-05756507v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Thermal Flash Annealing Stabilizes the Tetragonal Phase in Zirconia Microarchitectures as Revealed by Europium Optical Probing
AU - Cristian Rosero-Arias
AU - Francisco Ruiz-Zepeda
AU - Martin Drobek
AU - Marie-Alix Pizzoccaro-Zilamy
AU - Rogelio Salazar-Avila
AU - Carolina Mendoza
AU - Arturo Ponce
AU - Alan Aguirre-Soto
AU - Han Gardeniers
AU - Arturo Susarrey-Arce
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
JO - ACS Materials Letters
DO - 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.6c00406
UR - https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-05756507v1
AB - Controlling polymorphism in ceramic microarchitectures is essential for linking processing, structure, and function yet remains difficult for ceramics produced by two-photon lithography (TPL). During thermal conversion, crystallite growth typically promotes the thermodynamically stable monoclinic (m) phase, restricting access to tetragonal (t)-ZrO 2 . Here, we show that infrared (IR) flash annealing stabilizes t-ZrO 2 microarchitectures over a broad 600-1000 °C treatment window. Rapid IR heating (20 °C s -1 ) limits crystallite growth and suppresses the t-to-m transformation commonly observed near 750 °C under slower annealing. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) confirms crystallite-size-dependent t-stabilization during rapid IR heating, while Europium (Eu 3+ ) serves as an embedded optical probe of local symmetry, providing distinct photoluminescence signatures without destructive preparation. Flash thermal processing controls polymorphism, while luminescent symmetry probing enables its non-destructive diagnosis in 3D ceramic microarchitectures, providing a transferable approach for studying phase evolution in lanthanide-doped ceramics.
SN - 2639-4979
ER -