ZnO thin films with controlled crystallite orientation have been grown on seeded glass substrate via a chemical solution deposition. The influence of solvent on the ZnO film deposition has been investigated. We have demonstrated that the film texture can be easily controlled by varying the volume ratio of water to ethanol: the crystal orientation ([001] direction) in the films is found to be gradually tilted with increasing ethanol content. The as-deposited films exhibit a dominant ultraviolet emission at 380 nm, which becomes significantly intense and gives a full width at half maximum as narrow as 112 meV when the samples are post-annealed at 400 degrees C. A high optical quality of the films prepared by the simple wet-chemical route employed here would allow their possible application for ultraviolet light emission. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.