Sn-doped In(2)O(3) (ITO) thin films were deposited on a glass substrate with reactive RF magnetron sputtering and then post-deposition electro-annealed. The electron accelerating voltage was varied from 300 to 900 V. and the substrate temperature was increased to 250 degrees C with an electron accelerating voltage of 900 V for 20 min in a 4 x 10(-1) Pa vacuum. As-deposited and ITO films electro-annealed at low energy (<= 600 eV) were found to be in the amorphous phase, while ITO films electro-annealed at 900 eV showed diffraction peaks of the ITO (222) and (400) planes. As the electron accelerating voltage increased, the electrical resistivity decreased to as low as 6 x 10(-4) Omega cm, and the mean optical transmittance also increased from 79 to 82% in the visible wavelengths. The electro-annealed films showed a higher figure of merit (1.8 x 10(-3) Omega(-1)) than the as-deposited ITO films (6.7 x 10(-3) Omega(-1)), indicating that electro-annealed ITO films have better optoelectrical performance than as-deposited films. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.