ZnO films with preferred orientation along the (002) plane were fabricated by the sol-gel method using Zn(CH3COO)(2) . 2H(2)O as starting material. A homogeneous and stable solution was prepared by dissolving the zinc acetate in a solution of 2-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine. ZnO films highly oriented along the (002) plane were obtained by preheating the dip-coating films at temperatures from 200 degrees-500 degrees C for 10 min after each coating and postheating at temperatures from 500 degrees-800 degrees C for 1 h. The heat-treatment conditions, the withdrawal speed of the substrate, and the film thickness were found to strongly affect the crystallographic orientation, relative density and morphology of the resultant ZnO films.