Copper telluride thin films were deposited using modified chemical method using copper(II) sulphate; pentahydrate [uUSO(4).5H(2)O] and sodium tellurite [Na2TeO3] as cationic and anionic sources, respectively. Modified chemical method is based on the immersion of the substrate into separately placed cationic and anionic precursors. The preparative conditions such as concentration, pH, immersion time, immersion cycles, etc. were optimized to get good quality copper telluride thin films at room temperature. The films have been characterized for structural, compositional, optical and electrical transport properties by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Rutherford back scattering (RBS), optical absorption/transmission, electrical resistivity and thermoemf measurement techniques. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.