Nanocrystalline p-type arsenic-doped ZnO (ZnO:As) films have been synthesized on (0001) sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition using a ZnO target mixed with 6.6 wt % As2O3. The process of synthesizing p-type ZnO:As films was performed in an ambient gas of ultrapure (< 99.99%) oxygen. The ambient gas pressure was 5 Pa with the substrate temperature in the range of 350-500 degrees C. The ZnO:As films grown at 500 degrees C are p type, and the acceptor concentration in ZnO:As films is about 1.9 x 10(18) at./cm(3) as determined by Hall effect measurements. The concentration of As in ZnO:As films is estimated to be about 1.7% from the x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) spectrum. Guided by the XPS analysis and a model for large-sized-mismatched group-V dopant in ZnO, an As-Zn-2V(Zn) complex was thought to be the most possible acceptor. (c) 2006 American Vacuum Society.