Stabilization of the tetragonal phase in large columnar zirconia crystals without incorporating dopants

An uncracked thin film made of stable large columnar tetragonal zirconia crystals (t-ZrO2, 100–400 nm wide and ∼3 μm long) has been synthesized at room temperature. The thin film obtained is not nanostructured and stabilization of the tetragonal phase do not necessitate the incorporation of stabilizing dopant elements. In view of the microstructure characterizations performed, we propose that defects in the crystalline structure (dislocations and amorphous domains) are responsible for the stability of the unexpected tetragonal zirconia phase at room temperature.