A bond coat for thermal barrier coating (TBC), NiCrAlY coating, is subjected to vac-uum heat treatment in order to remove internal stress before ceramic top coat is de-posited. The effect of vacuum heat treatment on the oxidation behavior of the sputteredNiCrAlY coating has been investigated. The as-sputtered NiCrAlY coating consists ofγ-Ni and β-NiAl phases. After vacuum heat treatment, the sputtered NiCrAlY coatingmainly consists of γ-Ni3Al, β-NiAl, γ-Ni, and trace of α-Al2O3 phases. The isother-mal oxidation of sputtered NiCrAlY coating with and without vacuum heat treatmenthas been performed at 1000C. It is shown that α-Al2O3 formed during vacuum heattreatment acts as nuclei for the formation of α-Al2O3, and the protective α-Al2O3scale is formed more rapidly on the vacuum heat treated NiCrAlY coating than thatformed on the untreated coating. Also the α-Al2O3 scale has a better adherence to thevacuum heat treated NiCrAlY coating. Therefore the vacuum heat treatment improvesthe oxidation resistance of sputtered NiCrAlY coating.