Epitaxial lead zirconate-titanate (PZT) thin films with good piezoelectric properties were deposited in situ on Au(111)/Si(111) substrates with a Nd-YAG laser ablation technique. The experiments have been done at relatively low substrate temperatures. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction and SIMS were used to determine the composition, the crystallographic structure and the elemental distribution of the deposited films. All the films exhibited perovskite structures with preferential alignment of the (111) planes parallel to the film surface. Remarkable orientation has been obtained for films deposited at low substrate temperatures, with only very small amounts of non-piezoelectric pyrochlore phase. This is very important for deposition on semiconducting substrates, in order to avoid high temperature stresses and microcracking. Direct measurements revealed good piezoelectric properties in the absence of any subsequent poling, due to the intrinsic orientation of the films. (C)1998 Elsevier Science S.A.