MgO thin films, as the protective layers for plasma display panels (PDP), were prepared by using cathodic vacuum arc deposition technique. The influences of deposition angle between -60 degrees and 60 degrees on film structure and properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), ellipsometer, thermal field emission environment scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-Visible spectrophotometry were used to study the properties of MgO thin films like crystallization, surface structures, thicknesses and refraction indices. Our results show that the thickness of MgO thin film decreases with the increase of incidence angle. This is confirmed by the transmittance spectra as well. The film deposited at 0 degrees shows sharper diffraction peaks and smaller FWHMs (full width at half maximum) of both MgO (200) and (220), which means better crystallization quality of the film. The higher packing density is achieved on the 0 degrees deposited film as well. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.