Thick GaN film was grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on spinel covered ZnO layer. Single crystal ZnO was grown on c-plane sapphire by ultra high vacuum (UHV) DC sputtering. A thin Al layer was thermally deposited on it. A spinel layer was formed by a solid phase reaction of the Al and ZnO layers, and GaN thick film was grown on it. Structural and chemical properties of the spinel layer were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), respectively. The crystal quality of GaN was observed by atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). We found that the spinel layer is helpful for the reduction of zinc and oxygen diffusion into GaN during the HVPE growth. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.