A systematic study of the surface morphology and chemical composition of several ceramic targets after pulsed laser ablation has been conducted using a scanning electron microscope with x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. We have examined single crystal LaAIO3 and NdGaO3 disks, as well as powder sintered LaAIO3 and SrTiO3 discs. These targets were rotated during laser ablation and concentric trenches were formed with distinctive surface morphologies due to different doses of laser energy. We observed varied light-solid surface interactions on the targets prepared by different methods. The sintered targets exhibited surface explosions after long period laser ablation, presumably due to sub-surface overheating [1]. The single crystal targets have smoother surface morphology and the resulting films have much fewer particles on the surface. As such, they are preferred for laser ablation applications.