Zn1-xMnxTe epilayers have been grown on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates by hot-wall epitaxy. The structure of the epilayers was found to be zincblende over the whole range of the composition. The lattice parameters and the compositions were determined with double crystal rocking curves. Exciton-related near-edge emissions were observed in the 10 K photoluminescence spectrum without an external magnetic field, The peak energy of the edge emission increased linearly with increasing Mn composition up to 60%. The intra-ion transition emissions were observed in high Mn composition epilayers and the transition energy did not depend on the Mn composition. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.