Highly oriented and large scale p-type ZnO:Al:N films have been successfully synthesized by a simple, solution-based approach. In this approach, p-type doping of zinc oxide was achieved using combination of aqueous ammonia, zinc acetate and aluminium chloride. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence and Hall measurements indicate that the structure of the ZnO:Al:N films were highly influenced by aqueous ammonia concentration. Excessive aqueous ammonia results in randomly oriented film with excessive precipitation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.