E-beam deposition technique was used for formation of gadolinium doped ceria oxide (GDC) thin films. GDC thin films were grown by evaporating (Ce0.9Gd0.1)O-1.95 ceramic nanopowder. Operating technical parameters that influence thin film microstructure and crystallite size were studied. The GDC thin films were deposited on porous NiO-YSZ (nickel oxide-yttrium stabilized zirconium), optical quartz and Alloy 600 (Fe-Ni-Cr). The influence of substrate temperature on thin film (2-3 mu m of thickness) structure and surface morphology was investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that substrate temperature (changed in the range of 20-500 degrees C) had the influence on the crystallite size and texture. Crystallite size grows up to 53-56 nm with increasing substrate temperature during the deposition. The GDC thin film growing texture is changing at higher than 300 degrees C substrate temperature when is chosen Alloy 600 substrate. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.