Gallium-doped zinc oxide films were prepared by r.f. magnetron sputtering at room temperature as a function of the substrate-target distance. The best results were obtained for a distance of 10 cm, where a resistivity as low as 2.7 X 10(-4) Omega cm, a Hall mobility of 18 cm(2)/Vs and a carrier concentration of 1.3 X 10(21) cm(-3) were achieved. The films are polycrystalline presenting a strong crystallographic c-axis orientation (002) perpendicular to the substrate. The films present an overall transmittance in the visible part of the spectra of approximately 85%, on average. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.