Several experiments were carried out during pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of semimagnetic semiconductor (SMS) films in order to identify the contributions of the target and/or the substrate and/or the plume effects on the incongruent material transfer in the Cd1-xMnxTe film deposition on heated substrates. During XeCl laser ablation of a Cd1-xMnxTe target (x = 0.50) at 6 J/cm cm(2) fluence, films were deposited onto unheated substrates at different collecting angles with respect to the plume expansion direction. In the same time, the angular distribution of the emitting chemical species in the plasma was investigated by a combination of wavelength, temporal and spatial resolved optical emission spectroscopic measurements. Film composition was analysed by energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). Results are used as the basis for a study of the processes that control the stoichiometry of the deposited semimagnetic semiconductor films. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.