Three-dimensional microstructural characterization of porous cubic zirconia

• Cubic zirconia sinters were investigated using the 3D-EBSD technique.
• Relatively large volumes of nonconductive material were successfully analyzed.
• Results of 3D analysis were compared to the conventional 2D results and stereological calculations.

A set of cubic zirconia samples were investigated using 3-dimensional electron backscatter diffraction (3D EBSD) to analyze the grain structure, grain boundary networks and pore morphology. 3D EBSD is a variation of conventional EBSD, whereby a focused ion beam (FIB) is used in a dual beam scanning electron microscope (SEM) i.e. FIB–SEM to mill away material and to create ‘serial sections’ through the material being analyzed. Each new surface revealed is subject to an EBSD scan, which continues sequentially until a desired volume of material has been removed. In this manner, many consecutive 2D EBSD scans can be rendered in 3D to gain a greater insight of microstructural features and parameters.The three samples were examined in order to determine the effect of differences in the manufacturing process used for each. For each sample, a volume of ca. 15,000 μm3 was studied. The analysis of several microstructure parameters revealed a strong dependence on manufacturing conditions. Subsequently, the results of 3D EBSD analysis were compared to conventional 2D EBSD. Significant differences between the values of microstructure parameters determined by 2D and 3D EBSD were observed.