High-quality Nd-doped lutecium vanadate thin films on sapphire substrates have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition (KrF excimer laser). The substrate temperature during the deposition was in the range 600-700 degrees C under different oxygen pressure between 2 and 20 Pa. The quality of films and crystallographic relationships were assessed by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and prism-coupling measurements. The refractive indices of the films have been inferred from dark-mode prism coupling measurements and are slightly smaller than that of the bulk crystal. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.