The surface topography of thin single-crystal BaTiO3 films deposited on SrTiO3(100) and YBCO(001)/LaAlO3(100) substrates, and thin polycrystalline films deposited on MgO(100) was studied using scanning force microscopy in air. Films 0.37, 0.26, and 0.39 mu m thick were grown on the SrTiO3(100) substrate at 750 degrees C at oxygen pressures of 0.7, 7, and 70 Pa, respectively. Films 0.47, 0.26, and 0.25 mu m thick were deposited on the SrTiO3(100) substrate at the temperatures of 550, 750, and 850 degrees C, respectively, at an oxygen pressure of 7 Pa. Films 0.20 and 0.10 mu m thick were grown on MgO(100) and YBCO(001)/LaAlO3(100) substrates, respectively, at 750 degrees C and 7 Pa. Scanning force microscopy images show that, for the deposition temperature of 750 degrees C, when the oxygen pressure is increased from 0.7 to 7 and 70 Pa, the surface topography of the BaTiO3 films changes from flat to islandlike three-dimensional growth (Volmer-Weber mode), and the corresponding rms surface roughness values are 1.2, 3.4, and 6.4 nm. With an increase of the deposition temperature from 550 to 750 and 850 degrees C, the surface topography changes from corrugated to rectangular grain, and the corresponding surface roughness values are 1.2, 3.4, and 3.4 nm for an oxygen pressure of 7 Pa. The films on the MgO(100) substrate consist of two kinds of grains, and the corresponding surface roughness value is 1.0 nm. The film on YBCO(001)/LaAlO3(100) substrate is composed of uniform hemispherical grains, and corresponding surface roughness value is 29 nm due to the roughness of the bare substrate of 31 nm.