A study of the deposition of thin film ZnO from diethylzinc (DEZn) and a novel oxygen precursor n-butanol (n-BuOH), using atmospheric metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), has been carried out. The purpose-built MOCVD reactor incorporated in situ monitoring of the thin film growth via interferometry. Growth rates of up to 0.6 nm/s were achieved at temperatures below 250 degreesC and precursor ratio II/VI = 4. The II/VI precursor ratio was found to strongly influence the growth rate of the zinc oxide films. At low ratios the growth rate was slow and increased linearly as the ratio increased. Increasing the n-BuOH to DEZn ratio had the opposite effect and acted to suppress the growth rate. The films showed high optical transparencies when deposited at temperatures below 250 degreesC and displayed high electrical resistance. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.