The light-assisted electrodeposition technique has allowed the formation of a continuous (0002)-oriented-n-ZnO layer on a (111)-oriented-p-Cu2O layer and the construction of a Cu2O/ZnO heterojunction diode with a rectification feature. The irradiated light induced an increase in the minority carrier of electrons in the p-Cu2O and the electrodeposition of the ZnO by reducing the nitrate ion in the solution. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.