Highly conducting tri-layer films consisting of a Cu layer sandwiched between Al-doped ZnO (AZO) layers (AZO/Cu/AZO) were prepared on glass substrates at room temperature by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering of AZO and ion-beam sputtering of Cu. The tri-layer films have superior photoelectric properties compared with the bi-layer films (Cu/AZO, AZO/Cu) and single AZO films. The effect of AZO thickness on the properties of the tri-layer films was discussed. The X-ray diffraction spectra show that all films are polycrystalline consisting of a Cu layer with the cubic structure and two AZO layers with the ZnO hexagonal structure having a preferred orientation of (0 0 2) along the c-axis, and the crystallite size and the surface roughness increase simultaneously with the increase of AZO thickness. When the AZO thickness increases from 20 to 100nm, the average transmittance increases initially and then decreases. When the fixed Cu thickness is 8nm and the optimum AZO thickness of 40nm was found, a resistivity of 7.92×10 −5 Ωcm and an average transmittance of 84% in the wavelength range of visible spectrum of tri-layer films have been obtained. The merit figure (F TC ) for revaluing transparent electrodes can reach to 1.94×10 −2 Ω −1 .