Cerium oxide thin films are deposited on glass by pulsed laser deposition at room temperature and characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The effects of ambient gas, rate of deposition and fluence on growth of films have been studied. The films grown in forming gas and with a high rate of deposition are polycrystalline and show preferential orientation along 011 direction with a roughness of similar to 2 nm. Films prepared in oxygen have low crystallinity. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.