A procedure for determining the residual stress in thin films using energy dispersive x-ray diffraction was investigated. The effect of the sputtering pressure on the residual stress in dc magnetron sputtered Ni films was studied in greater detail using this approach. The behavior, reported suggested the possibility of controlling or influencing the sign and/or magnitude of the residual stress. In addition, the stress variation with increasing negative bias voltage is also presented. In the range studied, between -15 and -150 V, residual stress is always tensile. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.