The Bridgman method is used to grow especially undoped and doped single crystals of GaSe. Composition and impurity content of the grown crystals were determined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method. X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, photoluminescence (PL), and IR transmission measurements were performed at room temperature. The long wavelength lattice vibrations of four modifications of GaSe were described in the framework of modified one-layer linear-chain model which also takes into consideration the interaction of the selenium (Se) atom with the second nearest neighbor gallium (Ga) atom in the same layer. The existence of an eight-layer modification of GaSe is suggested and the vibrational frequencies of this modification are explained in the framework of a lattice dynamical model considered in the present work. Frequencies and the type of vibrations (gap, local, or resonance) for the impurity atoms were calculated and compared with the experimental results. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.