Thin films of CuInSe2 have been evaporated onto glass substrates by flash evaporation. The as-deposited films are amorphous and annealing in selenium atmosphere produces polycrystalline films. The films were characterized by tem and x-ray diffraction techniques. The optical absorption of the films shows three energy gaps of 1·03, 1·07 and 1·22 eV. The crystal field and spin-orbit splitting are thus found to be 0·04 eV and 0·16 eV respectively. The percentage d-character of the valence band states is ∼35%. The Arrhenius plot of electrical conductivity of films showed impurity ionization of EA = 75 meV. © 1986 the Indian Academy of Sciences.