Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) crystallites were deposited using a chemical-vapor-deposition apparatus operated under atmospheric pressure on a silicon substrate. The X-ray diffraction pattern reveals that the crystallites have a preferred crystallographic orientation along the ZrO2<200> direction and ascertains the presence of the monoclinic structure. The sample morphology indicates the existence of the aggregation of the whisker with a growth rate of 0.5 nm/s, 0.7 nm/s and 0.9 nm/s corresponding to the substrate temperature of 650degreesC, 680degreesC and 700degreesC, respectively. High temperatures introduce morphological instability in the whiskers. The appearance of a dendrite structure is an example of such morphological instability. Furthermore, a noticeable cathodoluminescence emission is observed in the U.V. and blue regions at room temperature. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.