We report the first demonstration of CdTe metal‐semiconductor field‐effect transistors. These transistors were fabricated usingn‐type CdTe films grown by photoassisted molecular beam epitaxy. Using this new film deposition technique, it is possible to obtain highly activatedn‐type orp‐type films suitable for device applications. In the present work, transistor structures with 5 or 100 &mgr;m gate lengths having channel dopings in the range from 2×1016to 2×1017cm−3were fabricated and tested. The 5 &mgr;m gate devices have transconductances as large as 10 mS/mm and pinch‐off voltages of 4.0 V.