The structural, optical, and electrical properties of GaN films grown on silica glass substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition were studied. X-ray diffraction showed that the films were grown in hexagonal structure with a predominant (0 0 0 2) peak. A broad and strong band-edge emission and very weak yellow luminescence in photoluminescence (PL) spectra were observed. And the temperature dependence of the PL spectra was extensively studied. The thermal quenching activation energy was found to be very close to the donor activation energy determined from the temperature dependence of the carrier concentration. Longitudinal optical phonons were found to be responsible for the PL broadening above 100 K. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.