Pb1-xFexS (x = 0.25, 0.50, 0.75) films were grown from an acidic chemical bath. Nanoparticle films were structurally characterized by XRD and TEM. Optical band gap of films is observed to vary from 1.65 to 1.42 eV with increase in their iron concentration from x = 0.25 to 0.75 in the films. Increased optical band gap of the ternary films compared to the estimated bulk value is attributed to quantum confinement in the nanocrystals deposited on solid substrates. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.