The photoelectric and electrical properties of high-resistivity p-like CdTe and Cd0.96Zn0.04Te single crystals and barrier structures on their base before and after laser irradiation in different conditions are studied. Irradiation of samples with nanosecond ruby laser pulses was carried out in two different ways. In the first case, the Cd(Zn)Te crystals were subjected to laser action directly from the surface and irradiation within a certain range of intensities resulted in a decrease in the surface recombination rate and increase in the photoconductivity signal. The surface region with a wider bandgap in CdZnTe crystals was formed. In the second case, the samples were irradiated from the side pre-coated with a relatively thick In dopant film and it caused rectification in the I-V characteristics as a result of laser-induced doping of the thin Cd( Zn) Te surface region and formation of a built-in p-n junction. The application of the fabricated M-p-n structured In/Cd(Zn)Te/Au diodes for X-ray and gamma-ray detectors is discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.