Vacuum deposited Cd0.5Zn0.5Te thin films of different thicknesses (161
-450 nm) prepared by thermal evaporation in vacuum, were found to corr
espond to a polycrystalline cubic crystal system and exhibited p-type
semiconducting behaviour. Film optical constants were determined from
transmittance and reflectance measurements at normal light incidence i
n the spectral range (500-2000 nm). It was found that both the refract
ive index (n) and the absorption index (k) are independent of the film
thickness. Analysis of n(lambda) shows normal dispersion. An energy g
ap of 1.72 eV was determined and attributed to allowed direct optical
transitions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.