SnO2 polycrystalline target with pure tetragonal phase is synthesized by solid-state reaction, and is employed to fabricate SnO2 thin films on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that all the films are a-oriented and present good crystalline quality. Laser-induced voltage (LIV) effect is found in those films grown on the vicinal-cut substrates, and the influence of the substrate temperature on the LIV effect in SnO2 thin films is studied. With the temperature increasing from 500 ℃ to 800 ℃, the peak voltage of LIV signals in SnO2 thin films firstly increases, and then decreases. At the same time, the response time firstly decreases, and then increases. Meanwhile, the optimal temperature is found, at which the peak voltage of LIV signals reaches the maximum. The response time and the rise time reach 98 and 28 ns, respectively, which is comparable to the duration of the applied laser pulse.