Calcia stabilized zirconia thin films and yttria stabilized zirconia single crystals were Yb implanted at 150 and 210 keV, and at various doses up to 1.3 × 1017ions/cm2in order to modify locally the oxygen transport properties. Rutherford back-scattering and nuclear microanalysis on the implanted thin films give information about the implantation profiles and sputtering yields. The results show that the ratio of the sputtering rates of two elements of the film is equal to their concentration ratio. At high implantation doses the Yb profile is nearly flat in the surface region with [Yb]/[Zr] = 1.1.18O tracing experiments demonstrate that a significant oxidation of the implanted samples occurs in air at room temperature. Further oxidation takes place during a 500 °C annealing in air which does not modify the Yb profile and leads to a final mean composition