A study was made of He migration in monoclinic (α-ZrO2) and cubic yttria-stabilized zirconia by means of non-destructive 3He depth profiling using the resonant 3He(d,p)4He nuclear reaction. Results were obtained for polycrystalline α-ZrO2 ceramics and yttria-stabilized zirconia single crystals which were implanted with 3MeV 3He ions to a depth of about 7μm and then isochronally annealed in air at 200 to 1100C. In α-ZrO2, no change in the depth profile was found up to 800C. Two regimes were found in yttria-stabilized zirconia. One was below 800C, where diffusion was controlled by He-trapping at native O vacancies (about 10at%). The other was above 800C, where He escaped from the profile; with almost complete out-gassing at 1100C.

Nuclear Reaction Analysis of Helium Migration in Zirconia. J.M.Costantini, J.J.Grob, J.Haussy, P.Trocellier, P.Trouslard: Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2003, 321[2-3], 281-7