X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) of MgPc indicated that the material in the powder form is polycrystalline with monoclinic structure. Miller indices, h k l, values for each diffraction peak in XRD spectrum were calculated. Thermal evaporation technique was used to deposit MgPc thin films. The XRD studies were carried out for MgPc thin films where the results confirm the amorphous nature for the as-deposited films. While, polycrystalline films orientated preferentially to ( 1 0 0) plane with an amorphous background were obtained for films annealed at 623 K for 3 h. Optical properties of MgPc thin films were characterised by using spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance and reflectance in the spectral range from 190 to 2500 nm. The refractive index, n, and the absorption index, k, were calculated. According to the analysis of dispersion curves, the parameters, namely; the optical absorption coefficient ( a), molar extinction coefficient (epsilon(molar)), oscillator energy (E-os), oscillator strength (f), and electric dipole strength (q(2)) were also evaluated. The recorded absorption measurements in the UV-vis region show two well defined absorption bands of phthalocyanine molecule; namely the Q-band and the Soret ( B-band). The Q-band showed its splitting characteristic (Davydov splitting), and Delta Q was obtained as 0.15 eV. The analysis of the spectral behaviour of the absorption coefficient (a), in the absorption region revealed indirect transitions. The transport and the near onset energy gaps were estimated as respectively 2.74 +/- 0.02 and 1.34 +/-0.01 eV. (c) 2007 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.