Shifts in the threshold voltage (Delta V-th) of transparent zinc tin oxide (ZTO) transistors under gate bias stress are studied. The effect of composition and processing temperature on the device stability has been investigated. Based on the research, highly stable transistors with Delta V-th as small as 30 mV after 1000 min of operation have been fabricated with a composition of [Zn]:[Sn]=36:64. As current drivers in active matrix displays their stability renders ZTO thin film transistors (TFTs) a very attractive alternative to TFTs based on established technologies. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.