Perovskite-type LaVO3 thin films were prepared on various substrates, such as KTaO3(001), SrTiO3(001), (LaAlO3)(0.3)-(SrAl0.5Ta0.5O3)(0.7)(001) (LSAT), and LaAlO3(001) by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. The X-ray diffraction measurement revealed that the films were epitaxially grown and highly crystallized. The films on KTaO3 and SrTiO3 grew with a good lattice match for the substrates, while the films on LSAT and LaAlO3 grew with relaxed lattice. LaVO3 tends to receive tensile stress instead of compressive stress. The surface roughness observed using an atomic force microscope (AFM) ranged up to 1-2 nm. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.