The structural and optical properties of polycrystalline CdTe thin fil
ms are investigated. The films were grown by the standard rf sputterin
g technique using high purity (5N) CdTe target. X-ray diffraction stud
ies are performed in order to determine structure and texture of sampl
es. It is found that the as grown films show a mixture between hexagon
al and cubic phases. It should be noted that the preferential directio
n of crystallites changes with changing deposition parameters. Optical
properties of sputtered films are obtained from transmission measurem
ents in the energy range 0.5-2.5 eV. The results confirm the direct ch
aracter of the interband transition and the optical constants show a c
lear variations with deposition parameters and annealing.