A low-temperature chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique has been used for the preparation Of Mn3O4 thin films onto glass substrates. The kinetic behavior and the formation mechanism of the solid thin films from the aqueous solution have been investigated. Structure (X-ray diffraction and Raman), morphological (atom force microscope), and optical (UV-vis-NIR) characterizations of the deposited films are presented. The results indicated that the deposited Mn3O4 thin films of smooth surface with nanosized grains were well crystalline and the optical bandgap of the film was estimated to be 2.54 eV. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.