Yb2O3 thin films were grown onto Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates by atomic layer deposition using Yb(thd)(3) and ozone precursors. Self saturating growth appeared when the growth temperature was between 300 and 350 degrees C. Polycrystalline BCC structure with (2 2 2), (4 0 0), (4 1 1), (4 4 0), (6 1 1) and (6 2 2) orientations was observed using X-ray diffraction measurements with lattice constant a(0) = 10.4 angstrom. The mass density for the films grown at 300 and 350 degrees C was found to be 8.9 and 9.0 g/cm(3), respectively. The film roughness increased with growth temperature from 0.9 (at 300 degrees C) to 1.3 nm (350 degrees C). Elastic recoil detection analysis revealed that the Yb/O ratio of the films grown at 350 degrees C was 0.63 and the films contained 1.1% hydrogen, 0.7% carbon and 0.08% nitrogen impurities. The refractive index of the film was about 1.9 at near-IR wavelength. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.