In this work, the analysis of the gaseous phase, produced by pulsed laser ablation of a TiC target and performed by emission spectroscopy and intensified charge coupled device (ICCD) imaging is reported. In the case of laser fluence higher than 3 J/cm(2), the front of the emitting plume is identified with the presence of Ti2+ ions, while the presence of a double maximum is due to the neutral and ionized titanium. particles traveling with different velocities. At a laser fluence lower than 3 J/cm(2), the front is marked by C+ emission and only one maximum is present. The results, compared with those obtained for other carbides of group 4, evidence that only in the plume produced from TiC targets there is the presence of a large amount of ions with high kinetic energy. In particular, the highly energetic M2+ ions (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) are present only in the TiC plume. The different energy and concentration of ions in the different carbide plumes confirm the importance of the ionized part of the gaseous phase in the film growth mechanism. In fact only in the TiC films, we find a layered structure in contrast with the columnar structure found in the other carbides of the same group. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.