Nanocrystalline thin films of mixed Cu-Cd ferrites, Cu1-xCdxFe2O4 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1), were deposited by electron beam evaporation technique. The films were annealed at 450 degrees C for 1 h. The effect of Cd doping on the structural and optical properties of the deposited films has been investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical spectrophotometry. XRD patterns of the annealed films show spinal cubic structure. The lattice parameter was found to increase with the increase of cadmium concentration. The crystallite size of the films was found to vary from 8 nm to 30 nm. The optical transition was found to be direct and indirect transitions with energy gaps decrease from 2.466 (x = 0) to 2.00 (x = 1) eV and from 2.148 (x = 0) to 1.824 (x = 1) eV, respectively. The refractive index dispersion of the films was found to increase with Cd content and discussed in terms of the Wemple-DiDomenico single oscillator model. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.