Deposited with different oxygen partial pressures and substrate temperatures, MgxZn1-xO thin films were prepared using a Mg0.6Zn0.4O ceramic target by magnetron sputtering. The structural and optical properties of the prepared thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction spectra reveal that all the films on quartz substrate are grown along (2 0 0) orientation with cubic structure. The lattice constant decreases and the crystallite size increases with the increase of substrate temperature. Both energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and calculated results suggest the ratio of Mg/Zn increases with increasing substrate temperature. The thin film deposited with T-s = 500 degrees C has a minimal rms roughness of 7.37 nm. The transmittance of all the films is higher than 85% in the visual region. The optical band gap is not sensitive to the oxygen partial pressure, while it increases from 5.63 eV for T-s = 100 degrees C to 5.95 eV for T-s = 700 degrees C. In addition, the refractive indices calculated from transmission spectra are sensitive to the substrate temperature. The photoluminescence spectra of MgxZn1-xO thin films excited by 330 nm ultraviolet light indicate that the peak intensity of the spectra is influenced by the oxygen partial pressure and substrate temperature. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.