Focused ion beam (FIB) is a widely used technique for preparation of electron transparent samples and so it is vital to understand the potential for introduction of FIB-induced microstructural artefacts. The bombardment of both Xe + and Ga + ions is observed to cause extensive monoclinic to tetragonal phase transformation in ZrO 2 corrosion films, however, this effect is diminished with reduced energy and is not observed below 5 KeV. This study emphasises the importance of careful FIB sample preparation with a low energy cleaning step, and also gives insight into the stabilisation mechanism of the tetragonal phase during oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]