We report on growth of MnTe layers by molecular beam epitaxy on Al2O3 substrates and of ZnTe layers on hybrid MnTe/Al2O3 substrates. The aim of our work was to prepare hexagonal phases of epitaxial thin films of these two materials. In the case of MnTe, the hexagonal NiAs-type phase was prepared by depositing the film directly on Al2O3 substrates. On the other hand, the crystal structure of ZnTe layers grown on hybrid MnTe/Al2O3 substrates was found to depend on the layer thickness: layers thinner than 0.05 mu m grew in a metastable hexagonal wurtzite structure, but with further increases of the thickness, the cubic zinc blende phase of ZnTe tended to appear. The structural properties of MnTe and ZnTe layers were characterized by high energy electron and X-ray diffraction methods. Electrical properties of MnTe films were assessed by the Hall effect measurements. The topography and microstructure were analyzed by atomic force microscope. The Neel temperature and magnetic domains structure of anti ferromagnetic hexagonal MnTe layers were obtained from neutron experiments. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.