TiO(2) thin films doped or mixed with cobalt oxide were grown by atomic layer deposition using titanium tetramethoxide and cobalt(III)acetylacetonate as metal precursors. The films could be deposited using both 03 and H(2)O as oxygen precursors. The films grown using water exhibited considerably smoother surface than those grown with ozone. The TiO(2):Co films with Co/(Co + Ti) cation ratio ranging from 0.01 to 0.30 were crystallized by annealing at 650 C, possessing mixed phase composition comprising rutile and anatase and, additionally, CoTiO(3) or CoTi(2)O(5). The annealed films demonstrated magnetic response expressed by magnetization curves with certain hysteresis and coercive fields. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.