Effects of thermal treatment on the characteristics of boron and tantalum-doped ZnO thin films deposited by the electrospraying method at atmospheric pressure

► Highly transparent and conductive metal-doped ZnO thin films prepared by electrospraying method. ► Transparent above 96% and low resistivity of 1.95 × 10− 4 Ω cm (15 Ω/□) for 2 at. % tantalum-doped ZnO films. ► The nature of changes in the electrical properties is a function of the characteristics of dopant element (ionic radius). ► Effect of thermal treatment and dopant concentration on the structural, electrical and optical properties studied. ► The prepared films exhibit the good crystalline structure and homogenous surface.