Two kinds of Er-doped Si-based films have been fabricated by laser ablation. One was grown in solid phase and the other was done in gas phase. For the solid-phase growth, we deposited Er-dispersed SiOx films by laser ablation and annealed them at 1000 degreesC for forming SiO2 films including Er-doped silicon nanocrystallites. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were performed at temperature from 6 to 300 K. We successfully fabricated Er-doped films with intense 1.5 mum PL and without thermal quenching by the solid-phase growth. For the gas-phase growth, Er atoms were probably doped in Si nanoparticles during they are growing in Ar gas. The PL intensity gradually decreases with increase in temperature, suggesting that the sites of Er are an important factor for restraining thermal quenching. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.