The photothermal technique has been applied for the thermal diffusivity mea
surements, These measurements based on interferometric photothermal deflect
ion effect were made on ZnxCd1-xTe (x = 5%, 10% and 20%). A simple one-dime
nsional model is presented to obtain the thermal diffusivity for semiconduc
tor materials in the case of a thermally thick sample that is optically opa
que.