We report structural, dielectric, and ferroelectric properties of compositionally graded (Pb,La) TiO3 thin films on LaNiO3/SiO2/Si substrates, where all the films were prepared by the sol-gel technique. The crystalline orientation and surface morphology of the graded films were closely related to the deposition sequence of film layer. Upgraded film exhibited ~100! preferentially oriented growth, whereas downgraded film showed a randomly oriented growth, where the films with La content increasing or decreasing gradually along film thickness from the substrate to the top surface are called "upgraded" or "downgraded" films, respectively. The dielectric constants, for upgraded and downgraded films annealed at 650