Indium sesquitelluride (In2Te3) compound was synthesized by mixing and melting the pure individual elements in stoichiometric proportions. The synthesized compound was utilized for the deposition of In2Te3 thin films on glass and freshly cleaved NaCl substrates using flash evaporation technique. The structure of In2Te3 thin films has been studied on the glass substrates by X-ray diffraction technique and on the cleavage faces of NaCl by electron diffraction technique. It was observed that the deposition from an ordered (X-phase compound results in polycrystalline films on glass substrate at 473 K which are predominant alpha-phase and random beta-phase compounds resulting in single crystal films on NaCl substrate at 523 K. Effect of source and substrate temperature on the composition of In2Te3 was also studied. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.