ZnO thin films were deposited on the glass substrates at different temperatures (room temperature, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 degrees C) in the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) system. The crystal structure of the thin film was found to be c-axis preferred orientation. The crystal quality of the thin film was confirmed by the omega scan (rocking curve) by measuring the (002) orientation. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) value of the thin film deposited at 400 degrees C was as small as 0.52 degrees. The band gap energies of the thin films were determined by a linear fit of the transmittance spectra. It was found that, with increasing growth temperature, the band gap energy increases and saturates at 3.28 eV. By the fitting of ellipsometry angles (Psi and Delta) the optical constants and the thicknesses of the thin films were calculated. The refractive indices of the thin films show normal dispersion behavior and are in the reasonable range compared with ZnO single crystal (2.008 at 6328). Luminescent measurements were also carried out by spectrometer. There existed two emission peaks in all thin films; one is the near band edge (NBE) emission at about 379 nm; the other is the wide deep level (DL) emission at about 500 nm. With increasing growth temperature, NBE emission enhanced and DL emission quenched. By measuring the photoluminescence (PL) of the samples at different date after deposition, the aging effects were observed. Micro-Raman was used to investigate the vibrational properties of the thin films. E, modes at 101 and 438 cm(-1) were observed to locate at 92.1 and 437.6 cm(-1) respectively. This shift was believed to be from the stress in the thin films. Hall measurement indicates that the resistivity decreases and the Hall mobility increases with increasing growth temperature. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.