A low-cost chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique has been used for the preparation of Cu2-xSe thin films onto glass substrates and deposited films were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-vis spectrophotometry. Good quality thin films of smooth surface of copper selenide thin films were deposited using sodium selenosulfate as a source of selenide ions. The structural and optical behaviour of the films are discussed in the light of the observed data. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.