Highly c-axis oriented ZnO thin films have been grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on quartz, silicon (100) and Al2O3 (0001) substrates using KrF excimer laser (lambda(ab)= 248 nm) and Q-switched fourth harmonic Nd:YAG laser (lambda(ab)= 266 nm). The crystalline nature, surface morphology and optical properties of the deposited films depend on the oxygen ambience, substrate nature and deposition temperature. The band gap of ZnO thin films varies with increase of substrate temperature despite of the ablation wavelength. Strong UV-PL emission without any deep level emissions confirms the growth of stoichiometric and crystalline ZnO thin films. Raman scattering studies confirms the growth of c-axis oriented ZnO thin films at different substrate temperature. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.