Zinc oxide single crystals were obtained by solidification of a melt contained in an iridium crucible. To the authors knowledge this is the first report on crystal growth of zinc oxide from the melt using an inductively heated metal crucible. This proves that under particular conditions metals are capable of withstanding liquid zinc oxide at high temperatures. Optical microscopy as well as X-ray rocking curve measurements reveal the high crystalline quality of the wafers with full-width at half-maximum values of 22 arcsec. Annealing of as-grown samples was observed to have a big influence on optical properties. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.