A combinatorial methodology was employed to investigate oxide/semiconductor interfaces for future devices using a combination of temperature gradient pulsed laser deposition and transmission electron microscopy. In growing oxide materials on Si substrate, a proper termination was found to be inevitable for avoiding surface oxidation. For this purpose, arsenic was used to obtain a durable surface of Si in oxygen atmosphere. On this surface, CeO2 and SrTiO3 were grown to study inter-face stability and phenomena. CeO2 and SrTiO3 were found to have abrupt structures at 200 degreesC. At a higher temperature at 550 degreesC, an amorphous interfacial layer was formed for the SrTiO3/Si interface. From the results, surface termination and the growth temperature were identified as factors governing the process of abrupt interface formation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.