We demonstrated the epitaxial growth of meta-stable beta-MoO3(011) thin films on SrTiO3(100), NdGaO3(110), and NdGaO3(001) substrates, using dc reactive magnetron sputtering. Low-temperature deposition at similar to 200 degrees C resulted in the suppression of the formation of thermodynamically stable alpha-MoO3, and we observed the growth of a beta-MoO3 phase with mixed orientation. In contrast, depositions on substrate surfaces with a step-and-terrace structure resulted in uniaxially oriented beta-MoO3(011) epitaxial thin films. The step-and-terrace structures were found to play an important role in controlling the epitaxial growth behavior of beta-MoO3 thin films. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.