Thin LiNbO3 films are deposited on (001) sapphire substrates by Ar F pulsed laser ablation. The films are evaluated by X-ray diffraction analysis at various temperatures, as well as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The deposited films are highly epitaxial but that are strained, that is, the a-axis is longer and the c-axis is shorter than those of LiNbO3 single crystals. X-ray diffraction analysis at deposition temperature, as well as TEM show that the strain is caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between LiNbO3 and sapphire substrates.

We have formed epitaxial LiNbO3 thin films on sapphire substrates (001),(110) and (012) using an excmer-laser ablation technique. We have fabricated surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters on the films and evaluated SAW properties. It is demonstrated that the LINbO3 thin films on the sapphire substrates are candidates for a high frequency SAW filter because of their high velocities of propagation (5300–5600m/s).

Thin films of (Ca,Sr)CuO2 and Bi2Sr2Can-1CunO2n+4 are formed by laser molecular beam epitaxy with in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction observation. The diffraction pattern shows that these materials are formed with layer-by-layer growth. The change of the diffraction intensity as well as the analysis of the total diffraction pattern makes It possible to control the grown of the atomic layer or the unit-cell layer.

By using 1ayer-by-1ayer successive deposition method with excimer laser ablation, the distance between CuO2 planes in the Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2Oy superconductor has been controlled and super lattices with concentration modulation of Y and Ca have been formed. From the properties of these ‘Tailored films’, it is suggested that there is an interaction between CuO2 layers across Ca layer to affect the Tc value, but there is a very weak interaction across Bi2O2 blocking layers.