Translucent zirconia sintered body, process for producing the same, and use of the same

Abstract

A subject of the invention relates to providing a powder for a translucent zirconia sintered body which is necessary for the production of a zirconia sintered body having a high sintered-body density and high strength and giving an excellent sense of translucency, without conducting any special sintering, such as HIP sintering. The invention relates to a technique for obtaining, through normal-pressure sintering, a translucent zirconia sintered body characterized by comprising zirconia which contains 2-4 mol % yttria as a stabilizer and has an alumina content of 0.2 wt % or lower, and by having a relative density of 99.8% or higher and a total light transmittance, as measured at a thickness of 1.0 mm, of 35% or higher. It is preferred that a powder containing 0-0.2 wt % alumina with a particle diameter of 0.01-0.5 μm, having a BET specific surface area of 5-16 m/g and an average particle diameter of 0.3-0.7 μm, and having a rate of sintering shrinkage in normal-pressure sintering (Δρ/ΔT; g/cm·° C.) of 0.0125 or higher but 0.0160 or lower should be subjected to normal-pressure sintering in the atmosphere.