Highly conductive ruthenium oxide (RuO2) has been epitaxially grown on LaAlO3substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The RuO2film is (h00) oriented normal to the substrate surface. The heteroepitaxial growth of RuO2on LaAlO3is demonstrated by the strong in‐plane orientation of thin films with respect to the major axes of the substrate. High crystallinity of RuO2thin films is also determined from Rutherford backscattering channeling measurements. Electrical measurements on the RuO2thin films demonstrate a quite low room‐temperature resistivity of 35±2 &mgr;&OHgr; cm at deposition temperatures of above 500 °C. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.