Polarity-controlled homoepitaxial ZnO filmswere prepared in order to investigate the near-surface and the electronic structures of ZnO films with Zn-polar (0001) and O-polar (000(1)) over bar surfaces. Neutral atom scattering spectroscopy revealed that the near surface atomic structure and the polarity of the single crystal substratewith a step and terrace structure was maintained even at the surface of the epitaxial films through substrate-mediated growth without a defect structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study also revealed that the surfaces of ZnO films and single crystal substrates showed similar band bending regardless of the surface polarity. The state of surface band bending is discussed and compared with other reports regarding ZnO and GaN. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.