ZnO thin films were prepared by sol‐gel spin‐coating method with thermal annealing in O2 atmosphere. The annealing temperature was varied in the range of 150 °C to 550°C. ZnO thin films with wurtzite structure were synthesized in all the samples. The sample annealed at low temperature showed the smooth surface morphology, and it gradually became rough with increase in annealing temperature. Finally, the sample had porous structure due to the aggregation of ZnO grain. As this result, the transmittance decreased in the visible region by annealing at high temperature. Furthermore, Raman analysis indicated that the lattice defects such as O vacancy could be suppressed by annealing at low temperature. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)