Thin films of Y2O3 with a preferred (101) orientation were deposited by a spray pyrolysis method. Ethanol solution of yttrium acetylacetonate were ultrasonically nebulized and thermally decomposed onto Si(100) in the temperature range 350-400 degreesC. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. An appropriate ratio of pulse time to interval time between pulses was found to be necessary for obtaining homogeneous and uniform nanostructural Y2O3 thin films. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.