Copper (Cu) films with a minimal thickness of 300 nm were grown on MgO(1 1 1) substrates in high vacuum by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at various temperatures to achieve a single crystal Cu film with flat terraces without grain boundaries. We investigated the effect of the substrate temperature, the pulse repetition rate, the deposition time and the laser fluence. A temperature threshold is observed above which the growth mode is changed from a uniform flat mode to a three dimensional mode. A combined process involving a germination step at moderate temperature followed by a growth step at higher temperature yields a 450 nm almost continuous film. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.