Nd-doped gadolinium vanadate (Nd:GdVO 4 ) films have been grown on La 3 Ga 5 SiO 14 (LGS) and sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition for the purpose of fabricating diode-pumped waveguide lasers. Films were grown over a range of temperatures from 600 to 700°C in the presence of an oxygen pressure between 2 and 20Pa. Films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and prism coupling method. Nd:GdVO 4 films on different substrates show preferential growth along (200) with smooth surface. However, films fabricated on sapphire substrates have better crystallization quality compared with that on La 3 Ga 5 SiO 14 (LGS) substrates according to the X-ray analysis. Films with sharper dips were observed on sapphire substrates in comparison with that on LGS substrates, which means a good confinement of the light in the corresponding mode.