Polycrystalline tungsten oxide films of 1-1.2 mu m thickness were prepared by reactive sputtering at elevated substrate temperature (270 degrees C) and under different oxygen partial pressures in the range from 0.8 to 2.1 mTorr. At the lowest partial pressure the films were substoichiometric, showed increased disorder, and exhibited photocurrents of 0.6 mA/cm(2) at 1.8V vs SCE in 0.33 M H3PO4. At partial pressures of 1.4 mTorr and greater, stoichiometric WO3 films were produced which exhibited photocurrents of 2.4 mA/cm2 at 1.8V vs SCE. It has been determined that the photoelectrochemical performance of slightly substoichiometric films is adversely affected by changes in optical properties, while the photocurrents of severely substoichiometric films suffer additionally from poor carrier collection. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.