Epitaxial SrWO4 films were successfully deposited with or without a buffer layer on the sapphire substrate by pulsed-laser deposition. The interface structures were characterized by high resolution electron microscopy (HREM), and it indicated that the film deposited on a CeO2 buffer layer shows a much better epitaxy than that deposited directly on the substrate, because of the small lattice mismatch between the film and the buffer layer. HREM also revealed definite orientation relationship among the film, the buffer layer, and the substrate, i.e. [(1) over bar 10](00 (4) over bar)(SrWO4)//[1 (1) over bar0](002)(CeO3)//[20 (12) over bar]((1) over bar 10 (2) over bar)(sapphire). (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.