Pairs of carbon nitride films have simultaneously been deposited by ArF excimer laser ablation of a graphite target in the 250 Pa nitrogen pressure window using a novel configuration. One substrate was parallel and 48 mm apart from the tat-get in the traditional on-axis geometry, while the other was placed off-axis, in the target plane. The pressure dependence of the apparent growth rate, defined as the measured thickness per number of pulses, is significantly different for the two geometries. In the traditional configuration the growth rate is almost constant at approximately 0.003 and 0.025 nm pulse(-1) for 1 and 5 J cm(-2), respectively. In the target plane it increases proportionally to the logarithm of N-2 pressure for both fluences, reaching maximum values of 0.009 and 0.030 nm pulse(-1) at 50 Pa. Complementary surface characterization by atomic force microscopy reveals that films of superior quality can be grown by this novel off-axis geometry, rendering it especially attractive in the high pressure domain. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.