Tin dioxide-based thin films have regained interest recently for applications where low sheet resistance (<10 Ohm/square) and/or high transmission of the visible light (>80-90%) are requested. In this work we have explored the deposition of SnO2 films by pyrosol, which is a CVD type process operating at atmospheric pressure. Results concern the compared optical and electrical characteristics of films deposited by three different precursors. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved.