Cd0.96Zn0.04Te thin films were prepared by vacuum evaporation onto glass substrates kept at room temperature. Xray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that the as-deposited films have zinc blende structure with preferential (111) orientation. Raman peak of the as-deposited film appeared between 139.88 and 163.40 cm(-1) for the transverse optic and the longitudinal optic phonons, respectively. These films were implanted with 100 keV boron ions to various doses from 10(12) to 10(14) ions/cm(2). The XRD patterns of the irradiated films exhibited a decrease in peak intensity and increase in the FWHM of the (111) peak. The Raman peak position did not change appreciably whereas the FWHM increases with the ion dose and the results are attributed to the effect of implantation-induced lattice damage. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.