The elaboration of the CdS nanocrystals embedded in a NaCl single crystal has been performed using the Czochralski method. The optical density spectrum shows a blue shift of the absorption edge towards the hi It energies. The energy gap has been found to be 2.70 eV. The photoluminescence has been assigned to the neutral-donor band (D-0, X) and radiative recombinations from deep defect and impurity levels. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.