The preparation and characterization of amorphous selenium thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) is presented. Two laser excitation regimes at 1064 and 532 nm were studied. Interesting relations between the surface quality and the different experimental parameters were found. High-purity thin films were produced with surface quality similar to that obtained by a thermal process. A study of the emission spectra of the plasma generated during ablation is included.