The effects of the deposition temperature on the growth characteristics of the ZnO films were studied for film bulk acoustic wave resonator (FBAR) device applications. All films were deposited using a radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. It was found that the growth characteristics of ZnO films have a strong dependence on the deposition temperature from 25 to 350degreesC. ZnO films deposited below 200 degreesC exhibited reasonably good columnar grain structures with highly preferred c-axis orientation while those above 200 degreesC showed very poor columnar grain structures with mixed-axis orientation. This study seems very useful for future FBAR device applications. (C) 2004 American Vacuum Society.