We have grown GaAsN layers (with nitrogen concentration between 1.2% and 3.2%) on GaAs(I 00) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using a radio frequency (RF) plasma nitrogen source, and solid sources for Ga and As. The growth temperature was varied from 420 to 600 degrees C, and the GaAsN growth mode was in situ monitored by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). The optical properties of the layers were studied by photoreflectance spectroscopy (PR) and phase modulated ellipsometry (PME). For the growth temperature of 420 degrees C the films grew in a three-dimensional (31)) mode as indicated by the appearance of transmission spots in the RHEED patterns. In contrast, GaAsN layers grown at higher temperatures presented a two-dimensional (2D) growth mode. These GaAsN layers are pseudomorphic according to high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD). The PR spectra of all samples exhibited Franz-Keldysh oscillations (FKO) above of the GaAs band gap energy. From these oscillations we obtained the built-in internal electric field intensity (F-int) at the GaAsN/GaAs interface. In the low-energy region of the PR spectra we observed the transitions associated to fundamental band gap of the GaAsN layers. The variation of the GaAsN fundamental band gap obtained by PR as a function of the N content was explained according the band anti-crossing model (BAC). On the other hand, the E-1 and E-1 + Delta E-1 critical points were obtained from the analysis of spectra of the imaginary part of the dielectric function obtained by PME. We observed a shift of these critical points to higher energies with the increase of N content, which was explained by a combination of strain and alloying effects. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.