Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering in order to examine the effects of sputtering conditions on the properties of the resulting thin-films. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the films. Additionally, films were deposited on alumina bars to examine the effect of the coatings on the strength of a brittle substrate. RBS analysis indicated that the ratio of oxygen to zirconium in the films varied from 1.84 to 2.10. XRD showed that there was a wide variation in the amount of monoclinic and tetragonal phases that appeared to be related to the O:Zr ratio. Despite these variations, there was no significant difference found in flexural strength found among the groups of alumina bars that were coated with YSZ. The likely cause is the columnar grain morphology of the deposited thin-films, which does not allow strengthening mechanisms to become operative. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.