Epitaxial thin films of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) have been deposited on single crystal sapphire (000l) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The structural, electrical and optical properties of these films were investigated as a function of substrate deposition temperature and background gas pressure. Films were deposited at substrate temperatures ranging from 25 to 680 degreesC in oxygen pressures ranging from 0.13 to 9.31 Pa. For the 200-nm-thick single crystal AZO film, the electrical resistivity was observed to be 2.2 x 10(-4) Ohm.cm and the average transmission in the visible range (400-700 nm) was 90%. This low resistivity value for the single crystal AZO film is due to the high carrier mobility of the film, which results from a decrease in the grain boundary scattering, compared to polycrystalline AZO films.