We studied the growth of ultrathin alumina films on NiAl(110) substrates at elevated temperatures using LEED and XPS. We obtained a well-ordered alumina layer without additional annealing when we introduced oxygen at a pressure of 6.6 x 10(-6) Pa and a substrate temperature of 1020 K. The alumina layer thicknesses were calculated using a uniform overlayer model, and 10.9 Angstrom of the alumina layer was obtained when the oxygen dose increased to 4000 L. The binding energies of Al 2p and O 1s for Al2O3 shifted to higher binding energy synchronously when the alumina layer increased in thickness during 1020 K oxidation. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.