A sputtering method for depositing a piezoelectric thin film comprising one or more of perovskite oxides represented by the formula A a B b O 3 where A is an element at site A which is at least one member of the group including Pb; B is an element at site B which is at least one member selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Sc, Co, Cu, In, Sn, Ga, Zn, Cd, Fe, Ni, and lanthanides; O is an oxygen atom; a and b are each 1.0; said method comprising the steps of: holding a target material to be sputtered on a sputter electrode placed within a vacuum vessel and also holding a substrate on a substrate holder placed within said vacuum vessel in a face-to-face relationship with said sputter electrode; and applying radio frequency waves to said sputter electrode from a radio frequency power source connected to said sputter electrode, whereby said target material is sputtered to form the thin film on a surface of said substrate from components of the target material; determining the conditions of film deposition in such a way that the deposition temperature Ts(°C) of said piezoelectric film is 400°C or higher and that the difference between a plasma potential Vs in the plasma and the floating potential Vf of the substrate during film deposition satisfies the following relations: − 0.2 T s + 100 < V s − V f V < − 0.2 T s + 130 10 ⁢ ≤ V s − V f V ≤ 35 measuring a DC component (Vdc) of a potential difference between a substrate potential of said substrate and a ground potential with a detector circuit provided in an impedance adjusting circuit one end of which is directly set at the ground potential, and displaying the result of detection with said detector circuit, monitoring the thus displayed result of detection, adjusting a first impedance of said substrate holder by adjusting a second impedance of an impedance circuit provided in said impedance adjusting circuit by control knobs (28a, 28b) from outside depending upon the displayed_result of detection of the DC component with said detector circuit connected to said impedance circuit so as to adjust said substrate potential to 10V or higher for depositing the thin film on the surface of said substrate. for depositing a piezoelectric thin film comprising one or more of perovskite oxides represented by the formula A a B b O 3 where A is an element at site A which is at least one member of the group including Pb; B is an element at site B which is at least one member selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Sc, Co, Cu, In, Sn, Ga, Zn, Cd, Fe, Ni, and lanthanides; O is an oxygen atom; a and b are each 1.0; said method comprising the steps of: holding a target material to be sputtered on a sputter electrode placed within a vacuum vessel and also holding a substrate on a substrate holder placed within said vacuum vessel in a face-to-face relationship with said sputter electrode; and applying radio frequency waves to said sputter electrode from a radio frequency power source connected to said sputter electrode, whereby said target material is sputtered to form the thin film on a surface of said substrate from components of the target material; holding a target material to be sputtered on a sputter electrode placed within a vacuum vessel and also holding a substrate on a substrate holder placed within said vacuum vessel in a face-to-face relationship with said sputter electrode; and applying radio frequency waves to said sputter electrode from a radio frequency power source connected to said sputter electrode, whereby said target material is sputtered to form the thin film on a surface of said substrate from components of the target material; determining the conditions of film deposition in such a way that the deposition temperature Ts(°C) of said piezoelectric film is 400°C or higher and that the difference between a plasma potential Vs in the plasma and the floating potential Vf of the substrate during film deposition satisfies the following relations: − 0.2 T s + 100 < V s − V f V < − 0.2 T s + 130 10 ⁢ ≤ V s − V f V ≤ 35 measuring a DC component (Vdc) of a potential difference between a substrate potential of said substrate and a ground potential with a detector circuit provided in an impedance adjusting circuit one end of which is directly set at the ground potential, and displaying the result of detection with said detector circuit, monitoring the thus displayed result of detection, adjusting a first impedance of said substrate holder by adjusting a second impedance of an impedance circuit provided in said impedance adjusting circuit by control knobs (28a, 28b) from outside depending upon the displayed_result of detection of the DC component with said detector circuit connected to said impedance circuit so as to adjust said substrate potential to 10V or higher for depositing the thin film on the surface of said substrate.