Poly crystalline thin films of ZnO and MgxZn1-xO have been deposited on glass substrates with varying Mg-content under constant growth parameters. Aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition technique has been adopted for the deposition of thin films in which we use the solution of zinc acetyl acetonate and magnesium acetate in isopropyl alcohol and O-2 is used as the carrier gas. The depositions have been carried out at 480 degrees C. The films were found to exhibit high transmittance (>90%), low absorbance and low reflectance in the visible regions. Absorption coefficient and thickness of the films have been determined from transmittance spectra in the ultraviolet-visible-near infrared regions by applying widely used envelope method. The energy band gap of the deposited samples increases from 3.25 to 3.75 eV, with increasing Mg content in the films. The crystallographic structure of these films was analyzed by using x-ray diffraction method. The films were polycrystalline in nature with preferred (00 (0) over bar1) orientation perpendicular to substrate surface. A systematic change in surface morphology is observed with increasing Mg content in the films. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.