Thin zinc oxide (ZnO) films have been grown on silicon substrates by thermal physical vapor deposition approach. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses reveal that the deposited films are polycrystalline ZnO phase. Atomic force microscopy images (AFM) show needle-like shape highly oriented ZnO crystals. Thin film thickness ranges from 10 to 80 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results declare that the films compose mainly of Zn and O. Nevertheless, Si is not detected in the films and consequently no possibility of any silicide formation as is confirmed by XRD analysis. Photocatalytic decomposition of azo-reactive dye on ZnO films is tested. The results show that the dye decomposition efficiency increases with decreasing pH. Maximum photodecomposition, 99.6% is obtained at pH 2 with 10 mg/l dye concentration. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.