Transparent and conducting ITO/Au/ITO multilayered films were deposited without intentional substrate heating on polycarbonate (PC) substrate using a magnetron sputtering process. The thickness of ITO, Au and ITO metal films in the multilayered structure was constant at 50, 10 and 40 nm, respectively. Although the substrate temperature was kept constant at 70 degrees C, ITO/Au/ITO films were polycrystalline with an (1 10) X-ray diffraction peak, while single ITO films were amorphous. Surface roughness analysis indicated ITO films had a higher average roughness of 1.76 nm, than the ITO/Au/ITO film roughness of 0.51 nm. The optoelectrical properties of the ITO/Au/ITO films were dependent on the An thin film, which affected the ITO film crystallinity. ITO/Au/ITO films on PC substrates were developed with a resistivity as low as 5.6 x 10(-5) Omega cm and a high optical transmittance of 71.7%. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.