TiO2/TiNxOy delta-doping structures were grown on the top of (1 1 0)TiO2 rutile substrates by low pressure metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE) technique at 750 degreesC. The samples were analyzed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and X-ray diffraction techniques (rocking curves and phi-scans). The presence of satellites in the (1 1 0)TiO2 rocking curve revealed the epitaxial growth of 10 period delta-doping structures. The thickness of the TiO2 layers, 84 nm, was deduced from the satellites period. HRTEM observations showed around 1.5 nm thick delta-doping layers, where the presence of nitrogen was detected by EELS. The analysis of the Bragg surface diffraction peaks observed in the phi-scans points to an almost negligible strain in this sample which was confirmed by substrate curvature radius measurements. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.