Cobalt ferrite thin films have been elaborated by pulsed laser ablation of a CoFe2 metallic target on Si (100) substrates. The films were deposited at low temperature (300 degrees C) in various pressures of two different reactive atmospheres (O-2/N-2, 20:80 and O-2). We present the influence of the nature of the reactive gas and of the deposition pressure on the crystallisation. It has been shown that a strong (111) preferential orientation is obtained for intermediate pressures of the O-2/N-2 reactive gas. The degree of orientation is higher for the O-2/N-2 mixture than for pure O-2. This behaviour is explained in terms of kinetic energy of the deposited species. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.