CdSe thin films were brush plated on conducting glass and titanium substrates maintained at temperatures in the range 5-30 degrees C from the precursors. The films exhibited hexagonal structure. Optical band gap was found to vary in the range of 1.65-2.1 eV as the substrate temperature is decreased from 30 degrees C. XPS measurements indicated the formation of CdSe. Atomic force microscopy studies indicated fine grains of the order of 10 nm for the films deposited at 5 degrees C. Luminescence measurement indicated emission at 520 nm for an excitation of 570 nm. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.