Nitrogen was incorporated into ZnO films grown by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) on ZnO substrates using DMZn-TEN, tert-butanol and diallylamine, respectively, as zinc, oxygen and doping sources. The carrier gas was either hydrogen or nitrogen and the partial pressure ratio (R-VI/II) was varied in order to favor the nitrogen incorporation and/or reduce carbon related defects. The ZnO films have been characterized by Micro-Raman scattering and SIMS measurements. SIMS measurements confirm the nitrogen incorporation with concentrations extending from similar to 10(19) cm(-3) to similar to 4 x 10(20) cm(-3). Raman spectra show nitrogen local vibration modes in films grown at low R-VI/II ratio and using H-2 as carrier gas. However, a vibration band attributed to carbon clusters dominates the Raman spectra for films grown with N-2 carrier. The contribution of N complexes was discussed. The strain was calculated for the as-grown and annealed films and it changes from tensile to compressive after annealing. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.