Abstract. High-quality (good crystallinity and stoichiometry) titanium nitride (TiN) thin films were grown on Si(100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using a high-purity titanium target (99.99%) and nitrogen radical beam. The crystallinity, chemical composition, and depth profiles of the grown films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), respectively. The XRD pattern indicated that the preferred growth of TiN(200) with an orientation parallel to the Si(100) direction was obtained and the nitrogen radical drastically improved crystallinity compared with that grown in ambient nitrogen gas. RBS spectra indicated that the combination of PLD and the nitrogen radical beam suppressed silicidation at the interface between the Si substrate and TiN thin film during growth. The XPS analysis revealed that this method achieved the synthesis of stoichiometric TiN films.