Diethylzinc (DEZn) and nitrous oxide (N2O) as a source gas combination in the metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) of zinc oxide (ZnO) has produced high-quality layers on sapphire, but no growth was confirmed on Si. This problem was overcome by using an underlying layer of ZnO grown directly onto the Si using nitrogen oxide (NO2) as a more reactive oxidation source. The main ZnO layer grown in this way on the ZnO/Si pretreated at 800degreesC possessed a c-axis orientation and exhibited bound exciton (BX) emission as narrow as 3 meV at full-width at half-maximum together with a free exciton (EX) at 9 K. These results demonstrated the high potential of MOVPE technology for the growth of ZnO on Si using appropriate surface treatments for optical and electrical applications. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.