C-axis oriented Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) thin films have been deposited onto epitaxially matched (001) sapphire substrate using pulsed laser deposition technique. Structural and optical properties of the thin films have been studied using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible spectroscopy respectively. Raman spectroscopy has been used to study the optical phonon modes and defects in the c-axis oriented LiNbO3 thin films. XRD analysis indicates the presence of stress in the as-grown LiNbO3 thin films and is attributed to the small lattice mismatch between LiNbO3 and sapphire. Refractive index (n = 2.13 at 640 nm) of the (006) LiNbO3 thin films was found to be slightly lower from the corresponding bulk value (n = 2.28). Various factors responsible for the deviation in the refractive index of (006) LiNbO3 thin films from the corresponding bulk value are discussed and the deviation is mainly attributed to the lattice contraction due to the presence of stress in deposited film. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.