We synthesized spinel ZrtAl(2)O(4) film on oe-Al2O3 substrate using a solid-phase reaction between the pulsed-laser-deposited ZnO film and alpha-Al2O3 substrate. Auger electron spectroscopy showed that the atomic distribution in the spinel ZnAl2O4 was inhomogeneous, which indicated that the reaction was diffusion controlled. Based on X-ray fluorescence measurements, the apparent growth activation energy of ZnAl2O4 was determined as 504 kJ/mol. X-ray diffractometry spectra showed that, as the growth temperature increased, the ZnAl2O4 film became disoriented from the single (111) orientation. The ZnAl2O4 (333) diffraction peak shifted toward a small angle, and its full-width at half-maximum decreased from 1.30degrees to 0.37degrees. At the growth temperature of 1100degreesC, the morphology of the ZnAl2O4 was initially transformed from islands to stick structures, then to bulgy-line structures with increased growth time. X-ray diffractometry spectra showed that these transformations were correlated with changes of ZnAl2O4 orientation.