Surface morphology and crystallinity of YVO 4 :Eu 3+ thin films have influenced on the photoluminescence characteristics. The YVO 4 :Eu 3+ films have been deposited on Al 2 O 3 (0001) substrates using pulsed laser deposition method. The films were grown at the various substrate temperatures and oxygen pressures. The substrate temperatures were changed from 500 to 700°C and the range of oxygen pressures was 100–400mTorr. The crystallinity and surface morphology of the films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. The results of XRD showed that YVO 4 :Eu 3+ films had zircon structure and AFM study revealed that the films consisted of homogeneous grains ranging from 100 to 400nm depending on the deposition conditions. The photoluminescence spectra were measured at room temperature using a luminescence spectrometer and the emitted radiation was dominated by the red emission peak at 620nm radiated from the transition of 5 D 0 – 7 F 2 . The crystallinity, surface morphology and photoluminescence spectra of thin-film phosphors were highly dependent on the deposition conditions, in particular, the substrate temperature and oxygen pressure. The surface roughness and photoluminescence intensity of the films showed similar behavior as a function of substrate temperature and oxygen pressure.