Ce-doped LaMnO3 epitaxial thin films were fabricated by a pulsed laser deposition method in consideration of thermodynamics. Oxygen- or argon-atmosphere post-annealed films showed a metal-insulator transition and ferromagnetic property, and the transition temperature T-c was found to be significantly influenced by the post-annealing conditions at the T-c ranging from 200 to 300 K. Moreover, the majority carriers within Ce-doped LaMnO3 films were identified to be holes from Hall effect measurements. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.