CdZnTe thin films of thickness 450–1400nm have been evaporated under vacuum onto unheated glass substrates, using a multilayer method. During film deposition, the two evaporation sources, separated by two glass cylinders, were maintained at temperatures of 720K for Zn and at 925–1200K for CdTe, respectively. After deposition, the samples were annealed in air up to 775K. The structural and optical properties of both as-deposited and heat-treated samples were investigated. Depending on the preparation conditions and the annealing temperature, the value of the optical band gap, E g , of respective films varied between 1.16 and 1.63eV. The obtained results are discussed in correlation with the structure of the films and the role of Zn atoms in CdTe films.