In this paper, we present extensive investigations of the growth of bismuth-substituted iron garnet Bi3Fe5O12 (BIG) on (001)-, (111)- and (110)-oriented gadolinium gallium garnet Gd3Ga5Cl2 (GGG) and doped GGG (SGGG, S*GGG) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The growth has been studied by the use of in-situ reflecting high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. We found 3D island growth to be the dominant growth mode for the BIG films. Additionally, we present a special technique to create very large BIG growth islands. This method involves the use of a metallic bismuth iron ablation target and partially shielding the substrate during deposition. The growth islands have a characteristic geometry depending on the cut of the substrate. We could explain their shapes by the assumption that growing BIG tends to form (110) facets. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.