Zinc oxide (ZnO) single crystal was grown, for the first time, by the self-flux method using a high-purity zinc solvent saturated with oxygen. ZnO crystals were successfully grown in the solvent by moving a growing crystal slowly, at about 17 mm/day along a temperature gradient (1.5 degrees C/mm) in a furnace, from 1050 to 500 degrees C. Hexagonal single crystals 1-3 mm in length and 0.5-1 mm in thickness were obtained. Energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and photoluminescence confirmed that the purity and crystallinity of the ZnO crystals grown in this work were high. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.