In this paper, a thermoluminescence signal centred at 129 • C induced by UV radiation of Yb 3+-doped ZrO 2 is reported. Phosphor was prepared by a solution combustion method and annealed at 600 and 900 • C to study the effect of annealing. The prepared phosphor was characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy methods. Various parameters were optimized. Computerized glow curve deconvolution was employed and kinetic parameters for every deconvoluted peak were calculated. To understand the concentration quenching, a 3T1R (three trap one recombination centre) model has been proposed.