Cu2Ta4O12 (CTaO) thin films were deposited on Si(100) substrates by pulsed-laser deposition technique in coexistence with Ta2O5. The crystalline structure and the surface morphology of the CTaO thin films were strongly affected by substrate temperature, oxygen pressure and target-substrate distance. During the deposition of CTaO, an initial formation of a Ta2O5 layer occurred, on which CTaO grew with different orientations. We report on details for film deposition and the film properties determined by scanning Electron Microscope, Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscope and X-ray diffraction. (c) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.