(B)ioactive glasses of different composition were ablated in vacuum with an ArF laser to investigate the transfer of the multicomponent system to titanium substrates. Both the bioactive coatings and the bulk glasses were analysed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS). The composition analyses by RBS, PIXE and NRA reveal that the target stoichiometry is nearly congruent transferred to the coating. Nevertheless, along the thin film slight inhomogeneities in composition were found. On the other hand, XPS and FTIR spectra show important changes in the bonding configuration of the coatings and a diminution of the non-bridging oxygen functional groups. This new rearrangement of the coating network forming and modifying agents strongly impacts the bioactive behaviour of the films when soaked in simulated body fluids. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.