We have grown thin films of La0.84Sr0.16MnO3 on SrTiO3 (100), MgO (100
), CeO2 (100)/Al2O3, and (100) oriented yttria-stabilized zirconia (YS
Z) substrates by using a 90 degrees off-axis RF magnetron sputtering d
eposition. X-ray diffraction analysis and ion beam channeling experime
nts reveal that the deposited films grow epitaxially on SrTiO3, biaxia
lly textured on MgO, and highly textured on YSZ. Scanning tunneling mi
croscopy reveals that the thin films possess extremely smooth surfaces
.