In this work sol–gel dip-coating technique was used to synthesize ZnO and ZnO/Al films. The influence of annealing regime and dopant concentration on the structural properties of ZnO and aluminum doped ZnO (ZnO/Al) films was investigated. The surface morphology and crystallinity of ZnO films were determined using atomic force microscopy and Xray diffraction, respectively. The experimental results show that ZnO and ZnO/Al films prepared using “shock” conditions have smooth surfaces and uniform grains. Increase of aluminum concentration led to grain size reduction and denser film.