In the present work, Cu₂O thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures ranging from 300 to 673 K. The structural, optical and electrical properties of Cu₂O films have been studied for their potential use as solar cell absorber layers. X-ray diffraction and Raman studies confirmed the cubic phase of Cu₂O. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows the presence of minority CuO phase at the surface. The surface morphology at different substrate temperatures has been studied using the scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The optical property of Cu₂O thin films has been evaluated with the help of transmittance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The optical band gap obtained from the transmittance spectroscopy is found to be in the range of 1.82–2.07 eV. All the films exhibit p-type conductivity with a typical carrier concentration of ∼10¹⁴ cm⁻³.