The paper presents the influence of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) parameters on the structural and optical properties of PZT thin films grown on platinum substrate. X-ray diffraction (XRD), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to determine the thin film properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are employed to get additional information. By changing the distance between target and substrate, different crystalline orientations of PZT are obtained. The thin film thickness and its roughness, as well as the refractive index are also influenced by the chosen distance. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.