Transparent conducting ZnO:Zr films were deposited on glass substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering from a Zn:Zr target consisting of a Zn metallic target and Zr metallic chips.The effects of target-to-substrate distance on their microstructures and properties are investigated.The deposited polycrystalline ZnO:Zr films are hexagonal structures with c-axis as the preferred orientation perpendicular to the substrate.The results show that the target-to-substrate distance greatly affects the microstructure,growth rate,density and electrical properties.At an optimal target-to-substrate distance of 6.0 cm,the ZnO:Zr film has a resistivity of 1.78×10-3 Ω·cm,an average transmittance of approximately 88.5 %,and a refractive index about 2.04.