N-doped TiO2 thin films have been deposited on unheated glass substrates by an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted direct current (dc) reactive magnetron sputtering. All films were produced in the metallic mode of sputtering in order to achieve a high deposition rate. The structures and properties of the N-doped TiO2 films were studied by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Experimental results show that we can obtain well crystallized N-doped anatase phase TiO2 thin films at low deposition temperature and at high deposition rate by using the ICP assisted dc reactive magnetron sputtering process. The doping of nitrogen into TiO2 lattices leads to a smooth shift of the absorption band toward visible light regions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.