CeO2 and Ce0.8M0.2O2-d films (M = Mn, Y, Gd, Sm, Nd and La) with (00l) preferred orientation have been prepared on biaxially textured Ni-W substrates by metal organic decomposition (MOD) method. The factors influencing the formation of cracks on the surface of these CeO2 and doped CeO2 films on Ni-W substrates were explored by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results indicate that many factors, such as the change of the ionic radii of doping cations, the transformation of crystal structure and the formation of oxygen vacancies in lattices at high annealing temperature, may be related to the formation of cracks on the surface of these films. However, the crack formation shows no dependence on the crystal lattice mismatch degree of the films with Ni-W substrates. Moreover, the suppression of surface cracks is related to the change of intrinsic elasticity of CeO2 film with doping of cations with a larger radius. SEM and AFM investigations of Ce0.8M0.2O2-d (M = Y, Gd, Sm, Nd and La) films reveal the dense, smooth and crack-free microstructure, and their lattice parameters match well with that of YBCO, illuminating that they are potentially suitable to be as buffer layer, especially as cap layer in multi-layer architecture of buffer layer for coated conductors.
