Conductive and transparent fluorine-doped zinc oxide, ZnO:F, thin films were deposited at 500degreesC on glass substrates by the chemical spray technique. Two sets of samples were deposited, based on a fresh and a two-day old starting solution prepared from zinc acetyl acetonate and ammonium fluoride dissolved in a mixture of water and alcohol. The electrical, structural, morphological and optical characteristics of the films as a function of the fluorine concentration in the starting solution were studied. Films with a resistivity as low as 2 x 10(-2) Omega cm, mobility up to 5 cm(2)/(Vs), carrier concentration in the range 1.5-5.7 x 10(20) cm(-3) and a transmittance in the range 75-90% were achieved with the old solution. Films were polycrystalline, growing preferentially along the (0 0 2) and (1 0 0) directions, depending on the fluorine concentration in the starting solution. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.