Polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) and nitrogen-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:N) films, about I pm thick, were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on crystalline silicon substrates. Infrared absorption measurements reveal a complex growth chemistry resulting in the presence of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen-related functional groups not seen in single-crystal material. Noteworthy changes in the absorbance spectra that occur with the incorporation of nitrogen include a group of strongly absorbing bands around 1800cm(-1) and a band at 3020cm(-1) attributable to a N H bond. These atomic configurations, in addition to the observed O-H bands around 3400cm(-1), provide insight into the difficulties of creating p-type ZnO through the incorporation of nitrogen. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.