Indium phosphide thin films were deposited on sapphire and GaAs(1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition using a XeCl excimer laser in argon background gas and in high vacuum. The grown film structure and morphology were observed by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The films were grown on sapphire produced a reflection electron diffraction pattern of a disordered film. Introduction of an argon gas background enhanced the particulate formation. Epitaxial InP(1 0 0) film with oriented polyhedral islands were grown on hydrogen-cleaned GaAs(1 0 0) at a substrate temperature of similar to573 K at 1 x 10(-8) Torr background pressure. By varying the deposition parameters, relatively smooth InP films with average surface roughness of about 4-12 nm were obtained. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.