N-doped TiO2 film was deposited by RF reactive magnetron sputtering in a mixture gas of N-2, O-2 and Ar. The experimental results show that the crystal structure is anatase phase, and the concentration of substitutional nitrogen is 4.91 at.% which leads to a narrow optical band gap of 2.65 eV. The H-2 production rate of the N-doped TiO2 film is about 601 mu mol g(-1) h(-1), far higher than that of the undoped TiO2 film and even about 50 times higher than that of dispersive P25 powder. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.