Thin films of MgO and CeO2 have been grown in situ on silicon (111) and silicon (100) by laser ablation using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm. It was found that deposition temperature was decisive for the preferential growth of MgO in the [220] or the [200] orientations. The preferential growth of CeO2 in the [111] direction is dependent upon the low partial pressures of oxygen. Values of refractive index close to that of the bulk materials were obtained. X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy were utilised to characterise the films.