Our project was to build a system that would allow the characterization of new materials in the form of thin films for UV detectors applications. The main objective of our research was the characterization of the radiation emitted by electron-beam irradiated thin films. The use of a Micro Channel Plate detector (MCP) leaded us to choose certain cathodoluminescent materials that should be deposited as films. Since this kind of detector is sensitive to photons in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and X-rays regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, our investigation was restricted to the materials which present cathodoluminescence in this region. Thin films based in pure or doped oxides (ZnO, ZnO:Eu, ZnO:Er) and LiYF4:Er+ were deposited. To accomplish this, different kinds of techniques were used, such as the electron-beam and the spincoating depositions. Once irradiated with electrons, these materials emit VUV photons, which are in turn detected by the MCP. For these purposes it was necessary to build an electron gun, with energy ranging from 0 to 400 eV, placed in a vacuum chamber, used for these experiments. Two series of measurements of the produced samples were performed in this vacuum chamber, and the photonic emission was detected by using transmission and reflection geometries. Our data show that, at the available incident energy range, the Erbium-doped materials have a strong emission peak around 120 eV. These preliminary results show that it is possible to use Erbium-doped films as VUV- cathodoluminescent materials