Sr- and Mg-doped lanthanum gallate, La1-xSrxGa1-yMgyO3-(x+y)/2 (LSGM); of various dopant concentrations were prepared by urea/nitrate solution combustion synthesis. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that a pure primitive cubic phase is formed at 1773 K for the compositions La1-xSrxGa1-yMgyO3-(x+y)/2 (0.1 less than or equal tox less than or equal to0.2, 0.1 less than or equal toy less than or equal to0.2), Thin films of La1-xSrxGa1-yMgyO3-(x+y)/2 wen fabricated on quartz and silicon substrates using pulsed-laser ablation technique. The as-deposited films were amorphous in nature, which on annealing at 973 K gave a single-phase cubic structure. As the quality of the film depends on the chemistry of the laser-induced plasma species, the in-situ determination of the plasma species identities and their relative abundance was carried out using mass spectrometry in-order to optimize the process parameters. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.