  We report the successful fabrication of superconducting tantalum nitride
(TaN) thin films using a pulsed laser deposition technique with 1064 nm
radiation. Films with thickness $ \sim $ 100 nm deposited on MgO (100) single
crystals and on oxidized silicon (SiO$_{2} $) substrates exhibited a
superconducting transition temperature of $\sim $ 8 K and 6 K, respectively.
The topography of these films were investigated using atomic force and scanning
electron microscopy, revealing fairly large area particulate free and smooth
surfaces, while the structure of the films were investigated using standard $
\theta -2 \theta $ and glancing angle X-ray diffraction techniques. For films
grown on MgO a face-centered cubic phase of TaN was observed, while films grown
on SiO$_{2} $ exhibited the face-centered cubic and as well as a mononitride
hexagonal phase. The transition temperature of the TaN deposited on SiO$_{2} $
was found to be more sensitive to the nitrogen pressure during deposition as
compared to the TaN deposited on MgO.
