High-quality ZnO films have been prepared by using zinc ion implantation into silica followed by post-thermal annealing in oxygen at 700degreesC for varying lengths of time. The dependence of the structure and photoluminescence of ZnO films on the annealing time has been investigated using X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectra. The X-ray photoelectron spectra were used to investigate the ZnO film formation process. As the annealing time increased to 2 h. ZnO film exhibited (0 0 2)-preferred orientation and an intense UV emission with a full width of 11 nm (96 meV) at half maximum positioned at approximate to377 nm (3.29 eV) at room temperature. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.