Resonant photothermal bending spectroscopy (R-PBS) has been developed for estimating absorption coefficient spectra of thin film semiconductors. This technique has been applied to hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (muc-Si:H) films at different measurement temperatures. It is found that absorption coefficient of muc-Si:H films at 0.7-1.1 eV is relevant for the localized states and decreases with increasing measurement temperature. The localized state exists at similar to0.7 eV in the band gap from the band edge. The origin of the absorption is also discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.