Zinc oxide (ZnO) and ZnO:Al-doped films were deposited by metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) using the Zn(tta)(2)center dot tmeda (H-tta = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone, tmeda = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylendiamine) and Al(acac)(3) (H-acac = acetylacetone) precursors on different substrates. The deposited layers were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Film structure is strongly dependent on the substrate nature and deposition conditions. AFM and XRD measurements show a good film texture and a preferential orientation along the c-axis. The Al concentration of ZnO:AI film has been confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Optical transparency of these ZnO layers has been studied in order to evaluate their applications as a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.