Waveguiding thin films of lead titanate have been deposited on quartz substrate or on (100) MgO single crystal by pulsed-laser deposition. The substrate temperature and the oxygen pressure were optimised in order to limit the formation of the pyrochlore phases in the film, and favour the single phased perovskite structure. The surface morphology of films is characterised by a roughness in the range of 5-10 nm. The crystalline quality of the films was found to be worse in the case of quartz substrate. while preferred orientation and epitaxial relationships between the PbTiO3 film and the MgO substrate were highlighted. The optical waveguiding performances were demonstrated by using the m-lines spectroscopy technique and connected to the structural properties of the films. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.