The stress-free GaN epitaxial films have been directly grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at 850 degrees C, and the effect of different stress on the microstructure of as-grown GaN epitaxial films has been explored in detail. The as-grown stress-free GaN epitaxial films exhibit very smooth surface without any particles and grains, which is confirmed by the smallest surface root-mean-square roughness of 2.3 nm measured by atomic force microscopy. In addition, they also have relatively high crystalline quality, which is proved by the small full-width at half maximum values of GaN(0002) and GaN(10 (1) over bar2) X-ray rocking curves as 0.27 degrees and 0.68 degrees, respectively. However, when the growth temperature is lower or higher than 850 degrees C, internal or thermal stress would be increased in as-grown GaN epitaxial films. To release the larger stress, a great number of dislocations are generated. Many irregular particulates, hexagonal GaN gains and pits are therefore produced on the films surface, and the crystalline quality is greatly reduced consequently. This work has demonstrated the direct growth of stress-free GaN epitaxial films with excellent surface morphology and high crystalline quality by PLD, and presented a comprehensive study on the origins and the effect of stress in GaN layer. It is instructional to achieve high-quality nitride films by PLD, and shows great potential and broad prospect for the further development of high-performance GaN-based devices. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.