The use of Raman and anti-stokes Raman spectroscopy to investigate the effect of exposure to high power laser radiation on the crystalline phases of TiO2, has been investigated. Measurement of the changes, over several time integrals, in the Raman and the anti-strokes Raman of TiO2 spectra with exposure to laser radiation is reported. Raman and anti-stokes Raman provide detail on both the structure and the kinetic process of changes in crystalline phases in the titania material. The effect of laser exposure resulted in the generation of increasing amounts of the rutile crystalline phase from the anatase crystalline phase during exposure. The Raman spectra displayed bands at 144 cm(-1) (Alg), 197 cm(-1) (Eg), 398 cm(-1) (Blg), 515 cm(-1) (Alg), and 640 cm(-1) (Eg) assigned to anatase which were replaced by bands at 143 cm(-1) (Blg), 235 cm(-1) (2 phonon process), 448 cm(-1) (Eg) and 612 cm(-1) (Alg) which were assigned to rutile. This indicated that laser irradiation of TiO2 changes the crystalline phase from anatase to rutile. Raman and anti-stokes Raman are highly sensitive to the crystalline forms of TiO2, and allow characterisation of the effect of laser irradiation upon TiO2. This technique would also be applicable as an in situ method for monitoring changes during the laser irradiation process. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.