it develops a new plasma assisted sintering (PAS) method to densify 3 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia (3YSZ) ceramics. The electrical curve characteristics and arc discharge phenomenon of PAS process were studied, and compared with other electric field assisted sintering methods. The influence of current density on the density, crystal structure, microstructure, and mechanical properties of 3YSZ ceramics was investigated. At a current density of 80 mA/mm², 3YSZ ceramics can achieve a relative density of up to 98.1% after 30 s of PAS, with a Vickers hardness of 15.1 ± 0.7 GPa, which is 2.3 GPa higher than that of samples prepared by conventional sintering. The effect of plasma also significantly changed the crystal structure characteristics of 3YSZ ceramics and obtained a gradient microstructure, proving that PAS is not a simple plasma heating process, and the current passing through the sample also has an important impact on the densification and grain growth. PAS has the characteristics of low initiate voltage, no need for pre-heating, short sintering time, and low energy consumption, which is expected to achieve low-cost and rapid densification of high-performance ceramic materials.