Indium gallium zinc oxide (InGaZnO4, IGZO) has attracted explosive growth in investigations over the last decades as an important material in the thin-film transistor. In this study, the various nitrate precursors, including indium nitrate, gallium nitrate, and zinc nitrate, were prepared from the various metals dissolved in nitric acid. Then, we used these nitrate precursors to synthesize the IGZO precursor powder by the multistep co-precipitation method. The synthesis parameters of the co-precipitation method, such as reaction temperature, pH value and reaction time, were controlled precisely to prepare the high quality IGZO precursor powder. Finally, IGZO precursor powder was calcined at 900 degrees C. Then, the microstructure, the crystalline structure, the particle size distribution and specific surface area of calcined IGZO precursor powder were characterized by electron transmission microscopy, X-ray diffraction technique, dynamic light scattering method and the surface area and porosimetry analyzer, respectively. The relative density of IGZO tablet sintered at 1200 degrees C for 12 h is as high as 9730%, and it showed highly InGaZnO4 crystalline structure and the large grain size. The IGZO nanoparticles developed in our study has the potential for the high quality target materials used in the application of electronic devices. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.