Vanadium-doped zinc oxide thin films with preferred c-axis orientation were deposited on glass substrates by DC-reactive co-sputtering. The deposited films were characterized by SEM, EDS, XRD and optical transmittance spectrum. The effect of V doping on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films was studied. It is found that the sample has a highly c-axis orientation and a comparatively good crystallization with lower mass percentage of vanadium doping. All the V-dopped ZnO thin films are in compressive stress condition and compression stress increases as vanadium content is increased. Refractive index n is lowered firstly and then increased, while extinction coefficient k has a trend of rising, and optical band gap rises a little bit firstly and then diminishes obviously when vanadium content is increased.
