We deposited silicon carbide films, 5 mum thick, on (100) silicon wafers at temperatures between ambient and 950-degrees-C in high vacuum by pulsed excimer laser ablation of a sintered target. The films are transparent, optically flat, free of cracks, and show excellent adhesion. Deposition at the lower temperatures resulted in an amorphous microstructure, and polycrystalline cubic beta-SiC grew epitaxially at 900-degrees-C and above. Stress accumulation during film growth caused bending of the substrate. From the resulting curvature we infer a compressive residual stress of the order of 500 MPa in the crystalline films compared with 10 MPa in the amorphous films.