This study investigates the effects of H(2) plasma treatment on characteristics of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputter at 200 degrees C for amorphous silicon (alpha-Si) thin film solar cell fabrication. Results of X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the structure of the plasma-treated film did not change but its crystallinity deteriorated as compared to that of the as-deposited film. The electrical resistivity of the AZO films decreased after H(2) plasma treatment, regardless of plasma power. The most improvements in the electrical and optical properties of the AZO film were obtained by applying H(2) plasma RF power of 50 W, where the film resistivity decreased from 1.23 x 10(-3) to 8.23 x 10(-4) Omega cm and the average optical transmittance in the wavelength range of 400-700 nm increased slightly from 89.5% to 91.7%. To enhance light trapping in solar cells, surface-textured AZO films were developed using diluted HCl etching and the haze ratio beyond 30% was obtained. Additionally, the alpha-Si thin film solar cells consisting of the prepared AZO thin film as the transparent electrodes were fabricated. The efficiency of the cell increased form 3.26% for the as-deposited AZO film to 5.14% for the 0.2%-HCl-etched and H(2) plasma-treated film. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.