SnO2 and CdO films with high electrical and optical quality have been produced by using low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Based on the knowledge gained from binary oxide formation, linear combinatorial synthesis is used to study the ternary oxide (Cd-Sn-O) compound. Compositional, structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films are found to vary along the reactant gas flow direction. The crystal structure indicates that the CdO-like films are formed near the location of gas injection and SnO2-like films near the end of the deposition zone. As composition and structure change, the carrier concentration varies around 10(20) cm(-3), and the mobility increases from less than 1 to similar to60 cm(2) V-1 s(-1). The optical bandgap of the films also increases from similar to2.75 to 3.65 eV as composition moves from CdO-Iike films to SnO2-like films. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.