Nanocrystalline SnO2 thin films were deposited by RF inductively coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using dibutyltin diacetate as precursor. The effects of substrate-nozzle distance (D-sn), RF power and deposition time on the phase and morphologies of the SnO2 thin films have been studied. The as-deposited SnO2 thin films were well crystallized even without additional substrate heating and post-annealing. The grain size and film thickness decreased continuously with the increase of D-sn and RF power while increased with increasing deposition time. The deposition parameters showed notable effects on the microstructure of the SnO2 thin films, thus it was possible to optimize the microstructure of the SnO2 thin films by adjusting deposition parameters to achieve high-performance SnO2-based thin film gas sensors. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.