Antimony trisulphide thin films have been prepared by a spray pyrolysis technique using various concentrations of complexing agent (tartaric acid) in the spray solution. These films are characterized for structural, electrical and optical properties. The results of XRD studies reveal that the films are polycrystalline. The crystallinity and direction of growth is found to be a function of the concentration of complexing agent. It is found that resistivity varies with the concentration of complexing agent. The resistivity of the films is 10(6)-10(7) Omega cm(-1). The band gap energy also varies with the concentration of the complexing agent from 1.92 to 2.13 eV. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.