We report the influence of magnetron sputtered zirconium-doped indium tin oxide (ITO:Zr) films with high mobility and work function on the heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cell. The addition of oxygen (O-2) to argon (Ar) flow ratio during the deposition process improves the Hall mobility of the ITO:Zr films while the carrier concentration decreased. The small amount of oxygen resulted in an enhancement of work function while excess amount of O-2 was not suitable for the electrical and surface properties of ITO:Zr films. The increase of O-2/Ar flow ratio from 0% to 0.4% improved the work function from 5.03 to 5.13 eV while the conductivity of ITO:Zr films remained about the same. The ITO:Zr films were employed as a front anti-reflection layer in a HIT solar cell and the best photo-voltage parameters were found to be V-oc=710 mV, J(sc)=33.66 mA/cm(2), FF=72.4%, and eta=17.31% for the O-2/Ar flow ratio of 0.4%. The increase of ITO:Zr work function leads to an increase in open circuit voltage (V-oc) and fill factor (FF) of the device. Therefore, the ITO:Zr films with high work function can be used to modify the front barrier height in the HIT solar cell. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.