Ablation of Al2O3-TiC targets was performed in ultra high vacuum using a pulsed UV laser (KrF, 248 nm). The ablated material was collected onto Si(1 1 1) substrates to grow thin films. Two sets of experiments were performed with two different fluence values (6 and 15 J cm(-2)) and, for each set, three different substrate temperatures (approximately 580, 680 and 760 degreesC). The deposition time was always kept at 50 min. The as-deposited films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Structure and chemical composition studies showed that the films consist mainly of amorphous oxides and that the film composition changes periodically along the film depth. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.