The pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of barium titanate (BaTiO3) target produced by spark plasma sintering (SPS) has been carried out by using excimer laser. The effects of sintering conditions of SPS on the BaTiO3 target, the influence of PLD conditions and oxygen pressure on thin film were investigated. Furthermore, the effects of the post-deposition annealing and the oxygen pressure on the dielectric properties were also studied. At a mixing ratio of 2:5 with diameter powder of 0.1 and 0.5 mum and at sintering temperature of 1423 K, the relative density of a sintered compact was 99.6%. At an oxygen pressure of 5 Pa, the ratio of Ba/Ti of thin film was approximately 1, making it ideal as dielectric materials. However, the crystalline of film as deposited was still not obtained. The crystalline BaTiO3 film with a tetragonal and cubic structure was obtained by annealing at 873 K in the atmosphere for 10 min. At the oxygen pressure below 10 Pa, the relative permittivity increased with the increase of oxygen pressure. The highest relative permittivity was obtained at 5 Pa; the relative permittivity reached 300 at the BaTiO3 ratio of about 1.0. The surface form of thin film as deposited and after crystallization did not change; it was flat and smooth. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.