Use of successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method was preferred for the growth of amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films at ambient temperature. Further, these films were annealed at 673 K for 2 h in air for structural improvement and characterized for structural, surface morphological, optical and electrical properties. An amorphous structure of TiO2 was retained even after annealing as confirmed from XRD studies. The spherical grains of relatively large size were compressed after annealing. A red shift in band gap energy and decrease in electrical resistivity were observed due to annealing treatment. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.