BiScO3-PbTiO3 (BSPT) thin films near the morphotropic phase boundary were successfully fabricated on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates via an aqueous sol-gel method. The thin films exhibited good crystalline quality and dense, uniform microstructures with an average grain size of 50 nm. The dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of the sol-gel-derived BSPT thin films were investigated. A remanent polarization of 74 mu C/cm(2) and a coercive field of 177 kV/cm were obtained. The local effective piezoelectric coefficient d(33)* was 23 pC/N at 2 V, measured by a scanning probe microscopy system. The dielectric peak appeared at 435 degrees C, which was 80 degrees C higher than that of Pb(Ti, Zr)O-3 thin films.