The aim of the current study was the deposition of aluminium-doped zinc oxide films (ZnO:Al or AZO) by the Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique at room temperature in an industrially-styled large-area multi-beam Nd:YAG laser coater. The influence of the O-2-Ar ratio in the deposition atmosphere on the morphology and texture was studied by means of atomic force microscopy, glancing angle X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The microstructures of the ZnO:Al films change drastically from amorphous films at low O-2 contents over nanocrystalline (100)-(002)-(101) ZnO (wurtzite type structure) textured films at medium O-2 contents to finally high-indexed planes of ZnO and ZnO2 on Si substrates and amorphous structures on glass at the highest O-2 contents in the deposition atmosphere. This phenomenon is caused by Ar ion bombardment and has extremely high influence on the surface roughness and morphology. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.