Fluorinated hydroxyapatite coated titanium was investigated for application as implant coating for bone substitute materials in orthopaedics and dentistry. Pulsed laser deposition technique was used for films preparation. Fluorinated hydroxyapatite target composition, Ca(10)(PO(4))(6)F(1.37)(OH)(0.63), was maintained at 2J/cm(2) of laser fluence and 500-600 degrees C of the substrate temperature. Prepared films had a compact microstructure, composed of spherical micrometric-size aggregates. The average surface roughness resulted to be of 3 nm for the film grown at 500 degrees C and of 10 nm for that grown at 600 degrees C, showing that the temperature increase did not favour the growth of a more fine granulated surface. The films were polycrystalline with no preferential growth orientation. The films grown at 500-600 degrees C were about 8 thick and possessed a hardness of 12-13 GPa. Lower or higher substrate temperature provides the possibility to obtain coatings with different fine texture and roughness, thus tayloring them for various applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.