Abstract: The present invention discloses a solid oxide fuel cell and method for fabricating solid oxide fuel cells using thin film processing techniques. The fuel cell comprises a cathode layer, an electrolyte layer, and an anode layer arranged in various configurations to optimize fuel cell performance.

Abstract: Thin-film composite materials with nanometer-scale grains comprise a thin-film layer that includes at least an electronic and an ionic conductor, and can be porous and/or resistant to redox-degradation. The thin-film composite materials can be formed by simultaneous co-deposition of at least an electronic and an ionic conductor onto a substrate using physical vapor deposition methods. Sacrificial materials can be co-deposited with the electronic and ionic conductors and subsequently removed from the thin-film layer to form a network of pores in the thin-film layer, that is, a porous thin-film composite material. A solid oxide fuel cell comprises an anode, an electrolyte and a cathode, wherein the anode and cathode are independently a thin-film composite material and the electrolyte is a thin-film material.