TiO2 amorphous films have been pulsed laser deposited onto glass substrates. Film characterization by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and transmission spectroscopy was performed with the aim of extracting the information on the film crystalline structure, surface roughness and optical properties. Three methods for improving film optical performance have been employed, namely deposition at elevated temperatures, post-annealing in thermodynamically equilibrium conditions and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The best characteristics were achieved in the case of the film subjected to RTA at 500 degrees C: refractive index n = 2.53, absorption coefficient alpha = 404 cm(-1) at lambda = 550 nm and rms surface roughness as low as 0.6 run. The results obtained were found to be one of the best published so far. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.