We report the superconducting and structural properties ofa‐axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7−x(YBCO) films as a function of deposition temperature of PrBa2Cu3O7−x(PBCO) template layers. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the orientation relationship in which thebaxis of the PBCO template layers and theaaxis of the YBCO films were normal to the LaSrGaO4(100) substrate surface. In‐plane aligneda‐axis oriented YBCO films having a zero resistance temperature of 88 K and an anisotropy ratio of resistivity of 11.5 at 275 K were obtained on PBCO template layers deposited at 630 °C among the deposition temperatures ranging from 600 to 650 °C at intervals of 10 °C. The degree of in‐plane alignment of thea‐axis oriented YBCO films which was estimated by the ratio of relative intensity at 90° and 180° in the XRD &fgr; scan of the (102) YBCO peak was 0.5, 0.045, and 0.053 for the films on PBCO templates deposited at 620, 630, and 640 °C, respectively. In conclusion, the deposition temperature of PBCO template layers is critical to fabricate the in‐plane aligneda‐axis oriented YBCO films on LaSrGaO4(100) substrates. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.