Deposition by the aqueous acetate solution (DAAS) technique was used to synthesize highly crystalline thin films of undoped and 2% iron-doped Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O-3 [PZT(53,47)] perovskites on sapphire and Pt substrates at 600 degrees C. Fe ions were added either at the precursor stage or diffused thermally. The crystallization of the films was measured by x-rag; diffraction. The ferroelectric activity was examined by polarization voltage hysteresis (P-E) loops. The electro-optical properties of ferroelectric/photoconductive PZT thin films were investigated by excitation photocurrent spectroscopy (EPS) and 77 K emission spectroscopy. The photoconductivity measured at visible wavelengths was enhanced for the thermally diffused, but not the precursor-processed doped materials. This, together with lattice parameters obtained from x-ray data and P-E hysteresis loop measurements, suggested that the precursor-processed doped ions are strongly bonded in the perovskite lattice, whereas the thermally diffused ions are bound more weakly in the grain boundaries.