Tin oxide (SnO2) epitaxial thin films have been prepared on TiO2 (0 0 1) substrates at different temperatures by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method. The obtained films were pure SnO2 with the tetragonal rutile structure. An in-plane orientation relationship of (0 0 1) SnO2 parallel to(0 0 1) TiO2 with [1 0 0] SnO2 parallel to[1 0 0] and [0 1 0]SnO2 parallel to[0 1 0]TiO2 between the film and substrate was determined. The SnO2 film prepared at 600 degrees C presented the best single crystalline structure. The average transmittance of the SnO2 samples in the visible range exceeded 68%. In the photoluminescence spectra, a broad luminescence band centered at 615 nm was observed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.