We have grown alloy and superlattice films consisting of SrTiO3 (STO) and LaAlO3 (LAO) by pulsed laser deposition using composition-spread technique. All the (STO)(x)(LAO)(1-x) (0 <= x <= 1) alloy and superlattice films exhibited a single-phase perovskite structure. The optical properties of these films were characterized by absorption spectroscopy at room temperature. The spectra show a broad absorption due to O 2p-Ti 3d(t(2g)) transition in an ultraviolet region. We found that absorption edges of both alloy and superlattice films systematically shifted to higher energy with increasing LAO composition. Clear difference was observed in the composition dependence of the indirect and a direct band edges. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.