In this paper, results are reported on the characterization of thin films of titanium dioxide and chalcogenide glass doped with praseodymium by the technique of plasma-assisted pulsed laser deposition (PA-PLD) with biased substrate. This technique is shown to be able to prevent contamination of deposited films by particles ejected and to improve the pulsed laser deposition process for stoichiometry, morphology and optical properties of the films produced. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.