Nd-doped gadolinium vanadate (Nd:GdVO4) films have been grown on La3Ga5SiO14 (LGS) and sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition for the purpose of fabricating diode-pumped waveguide lasers. Films were grown over a range of temperatures from 600 to 700 degrees C in the presence of an oxygen pressure between 2 and 20 Pa. Films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and prism coupling method. Nd:GdVO4 films on different substrates show preferential growth along (2 0 0) with smooth surface. However, films fabricated on sapphire substrates have better crystallization quality compared with that on La3Ga5SiO14 (LGS) substrates according to the X-ray analysis. Films with sharper dips were observed on sapphire substrates in comparison with that on LGS substrates, which means a good confinement of the light in the corresponding mode. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.