Mixed composition optical thin films.of zinc telluride-magnesium nuoride. whi ch have not been studied so far, have been investigated. These film s have been evaporated b;-thermal evaporati on from mi xtures of th e constituents'in di fferent proportions by weight, from a single source. The film s have been characteri sed for their opti ca l properti es (refracti ve index. extincti on coefficient and IR transmittance), mechanical properties (i ntrinsic stress and surface morph ology) and

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... line/amorph ous structure. It has been found that these mixed composition film s have tail orable refr ac ti ve indices and low intrinsic stress for a certain range of compositions. Good IR transmittance and smooth surface morphology are th e ge neral fea tures of these film s. This makes them useful for incorporation in multilayer thin film optica l coatin gs in th e ne ar infrared reg ion.