Zinc telluride (ZnTe) thin films were sublimated on a glass substrate using closed space sublimation (CSS) technique. The influence of the substrate temperature on the physical properties is studied. The deposited films were immersed in AgNO3 solution with different concentrations, and then annealed in air. The structure and composition are studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). X-ray diffraction patterns of as-deposited ZnTe thin films exhibited polycrystalline behavior. The preferred orientation of (1 1 1) having cubic phase irrespective of the substrate temperature was observed. The XPS analysis confirmed the presence of Ag in the ZnTe thin films after doping by immersion in the AgNO3 solution of different concentrations. Crown Copyright (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.