Textured Nd doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Y3Al5O12,YAG) crystalline thin films have been grown on silicon substrates by pulsed laser deposition method. The films were characterized by means of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), x‐ray analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that the composition of these films are that of YAG doped with Nd (1.2, 2.4 at. %). AFM image shows that the Nd:YAG crystallites were oriented to the silicon surface at the substrate temperature of 700 °C. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.