Lead titanate thin films were deposited onto MgO(100), Pt(200)/MgO(100), Pt(111)/Ti/MgO(100) and Pt(lll)/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) under a variety of deposition conditions. Oriented and polycrystalline films of lead titanate were obtained on these substrates under the deposition conditions employed. The films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RES) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). (001) and (100) orientations of lead titanate were observed at low temperatures, while at higher temperatures (101) and (111) orientations were also observed. Optimal conditions for growth of lead titanate were different on different substrates. Electrical characterization of lead titanate thin film capacitors with platinum electrodes was performed. Hysteresis loops were obtained for both polycrystalline and oriented films. Hysteresis, fatigue and imprint tests were performed to evaluate these capacitors. The coercive fields for these films were of the order of 1.1 x 10(7) V m(-1) for oriented films and about 1.5 x 10(7) V m(-1) for polycrystalline films. The polycrystalline films were found to fatigue faster than the oriented films. The resistivity of the oriented films (6 x 10(7) Omega m) was higher than that of polycrystalline films (2 x 10(6) Omega m) at saturation voltage. The saturation polarization was of the order of 0.22 C m(-2) for all films. Polycrystalline films showed retention loss on imprint testing, whereas the oriented films showed an increase in switched polarization indicating resistance degradation. No definite trend towards imprint was observed.