Fluorine-doped tin oxide films were deposited on Na-Ca-Si glass substrate at 650 degrees C by chemical vapor deposition, and then heat treatment was carried out at 200 degrees C, 400 degrees C and 600 degrees C for 4 min in a resistance furnace. The residual stress in SnO2:F films was systematically measured using the sin(2)Psi method based on X-ray diffraction. The incidence angle was adopted as Psi = 0 degrees, 15 degrees, 20 degrees, 25 degrees and 30 degrees. The results showed that the films were polycrystalline with tetragonal SnO2 structure, together with a weak peak of SnO phase. All the films exhibited a preferred orientation with the (200) plane. The minimum value of residual stress (-0.24 +/- 0.01 GPa) was obtained when the films were heat-treated at 200 degrees C. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.