Low-temperature synthesis and characterization of ITO thin films prepared by cathodic arc ion plating (CAIP) have been demonstrated. The correlation between structural properties and electrical results are revealed in this work. At present, the in-house ITO films with the lowest resistivity and highest transparence of 4.8 × 10^-4 (Ω-cm) and 80% can be obtained. Such the low-temperature fabrication technique is very promising for the potential applications of flexible electronic devices or dye-sensitized solar cells. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2009.553]