Display technology, which relies exclusively on amorphous silicon as the active material for driver electronics, has reached multiple impasses that limit future progress. In order to deliver higher resolutions, higher refresh rates, new display technologies, and innovative form factors, driver electronics must transition to higher performance materials like amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs). Transient laser annealing offers an attractive means to maximize performance while minimizing thermal budget, making it compatible with flexible back plane materials and roll-to-roll processing. This research investigates the deposition and annealing of zinc oxide nanoparticle inks to form fully densified crystalline and amorphous zinc oxide films. Processing routes for nanoparticle annealing, including ligand removal, calcining, and excimer pulse laser sintering on the nanosecond time scale, will be introduced that minimize defect formation and suppress the anomalous n-conductivity which is a major challenge to zinc oxide processing. Resistivities as high as 6 x 107 Ω-cm have been demonstrated. Laser processing on longer millisecond time scales can control defect formation to produce ZnO films without extrinsic doping which have low resistivity for intrinsic oxides, in the range of 10[-]1 [-] 10[-]2 Ω-cm. Finally, a viable process for the production of backgated ZnO transistors with promising characteristics is presented and the future implications for AOSs and transient thermal processing will be discussed.