The ternary Zn1-xMgxTe epitaxial layers have been successfully grown on (100) ZnTe substrates by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy using dimethylzinc, bis-methylcyclopentadienyl-magnesium ((MeCP)(2)Mg) and diethyltelluride (DETe) as source materials. The effects of source transport rates and total gas flow rate upon the Mg composition in the Zn1-xMgxTe layers have been investigated. It was found that the Mg composition drastically increase with decreasing DETe transport rate or with increasing the total gas flow rate, which may be associated with the reduction of the premature reaction between DETe and (MeCP)(2)Mg. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.