ZnTe thin films were prepared by cathodic r.f.-sputtering from a single high purity ZnTe target. The deposition rate increases with sputtering power. The ZnTe films deposited at 50 W were not well crystallized. The crystallization improves upon increasing the deposition power. Particularly, the films deposited using a power between 200 and 350 W, have a long-wavelength refractive index of 2.55 and a band gap energy of 2.26 eV. Furthermore, the as-deposited films are highly resistive and their resistance presents an activation energy of 0.48 eV in the temperature range 240 to 300 K.