Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been deposited onto glass substrates by rf-magnetron sputtering using aluminum doped nanocrystalline powder synthesized by sol-gel method. Structural, electrical and optical properties of the films as a function of the substrate temperature were investigated. It has been found that all of the films deposited were polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially oriented in the (002) crystallographic direction. The films are highly transparent in the visible wavelength region with a transmittance higher than 85%, and have an optical band-gap ranging from 3.41 to 3.51 eV depending on the substrate temperature. The lowest electrical resistivity of 1.6 x 10(-4) Omega cm was obtained for films deposited at a substrate temperature of 120 degrees C. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.