Modulated plasma arc not only can heat the powder, but also can excite ultrasonic of different frequencies and different powers. The principles and characters of the plasma arc-excited ultrasonic were described, and the ultrasonic plasma spraying was compared with normal plasma spraying. Zirconia thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were fabricated with two kinds of method. The TBCs were studied by the optical microscope observation, SEM observation and bonding strength experiment. The results show that suitable ultrasonic changes the performance and microstructure of TBCs in evidence. And the mechanism of ultrasonic influencing the TBCs was also discussed.