Semiconducting As2Se3 thin films have been prepared from an aqueous bath at room temperature onto stainless steel and fluorine-doped tin oxide (F.T.O.)-coated glass substrates using an electrodeposition technique. It has been found that As2O3 and SeO2 in the volumetric proportion as 4:6 and their equimolar solutions of 0.075 M concentration forms good quality films of As2Se3. The films are annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere at temperature of 200degreesC for 2 h. The films are characterised by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and optical absorption techniques. Studies reveal that asdeposited and annealed thin films are polycrystalline in nature. The optical band gap has been found to be 2.15 eV for the above-mentioned composition and concentration of the film. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.