Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) film was deposited on to a stationary metal substrate by electron beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) at 850 degrees C. The film was characterized using transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy The film was composed of inverted triangular-based pyramidal gains (T-gains) and inverted diamond based pyramidal grains (D-grains). The T gains were aligned in the < 111 > direction and D-grains in < 110 > perpendicularly to the substrate. Furthermore, striated fines of nano-pores, which should be strongly related to the thermal conductivity of the film, were observed in each YSZ grain. The pores were oriented in the < 110 > in the (111) plane and distributed across {11 (4) over bar} planes in the YSZ gains aligned in the < 111 > (T-grains). In the YSZ grain aligned in the < 110 > (D-grains), the pores were oriented in the [(1) over bar 10] and the [001] directions in the (110) and distributed across the (001) and ((1) over bar 10).