The applications of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices aim directly at piezoelectric thin-films deposited onto amorphous diamond like carbon-coated on silicon substrates from target ZnO in this study. This study discusses the physics and electrics of the thin-films with the sputtering conditions of RF power, ambient pressure and mass flow ratios oxygen/argon (O-2/Ar) under constant substrate temperature. This investigation analyses the thin-films of microstructure, grain size, micro-morphology, and O-2/Ar ratio by XRD, SEM, TEM, AFM, and AES. The analytical results show increasing the deposition ratio of the thin-films increases power and decreases ambient pressure and O-2 flow ratio. However, the RF power has a threshold limit value (TLV), and the growth ratio of thin-films decreases, if the RF power exceeds the TLV. The O-2/Ar flow ratio not only affects the depositing ratio, but also the surface of the crystal type. A suitable O-2/Ar flow ratio in the cavity, obtains a thin-film with a high-density structure and smooth surface. The optimal parameters for sputtering are RF power 200 W, ambient pressure 3 x 10(-3) Torr, O-2/Ar flow ratio of 1/8 and the distance between target and substrate of 35 mm. Finally, interdigital transducers were fabricated on the films to measure the characteristics of the SAW device. Consequently, the characteristics of SAW devices can be significantly enhanced by using diamond like carbon thin film as the inter-layer. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.