Cadmium indate (CdIn(2)O(4)) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by the sol-gel technique, starting from the mixture of two simple precursor solutions of CdO and In(2)O(3) obtained at room temperature. The In atomic concentration percentage (X) in the precursor solution with respect to Cd (1-X) was varied from 55 to 79 at% with steps of 4 at%. The films were sintered in an open atmosphere at 550 degrees C and after that, exposed to different annealing treatments, 96/4 N(2)/H(2) gas mixture, H(2) and vacuum, at different temperatures. X-ray diffraction patterns showed three types of films, consisting of crystals of (a) CdO+CdIn(2)O(4), (b) CdIn(2)O(4) and (c) In(2)O(3)+CdIn(2)O(4). It was found that the films with X <= 59 at% and annealed at 600 degrees C in vacuum for 60min, showed the lowest resistivity, similar to 1 x 10(-3) Omega cm. The carrier concentration and mobility were determined from Hall measurements. The films were highly transparent (similar to 80%) in the 400-1100 nm range. In addition to the low-resistivity value and high transparency, the CdIn(2)O(4) films had a direct bandgap around 3.2 eV, which shows the importance of using this oxide as a transparent electrode in solar cells. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.