A ZnO p-n junction light-emitting diode (LED) was fabricated on a -plane Al2 O3 substrate by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy. NO plasma activated by a radio frequency atomic source was used to grow the p -type ZnO layer of the LED. The current-voltage measurements at low temperatures showed a typical diode characteristic with a threshold voltage of about 4.0 V under forward bias. With increasing temperature, the rectification characteristic was degraded gradually, and faded away at room temperature. Electroluminescence band of the ZnO p-n junction LED was located at the blue-violet region and was weakened significantly with increase of temperature. This thermal quenching of the electroluminescence was attributed to the degradation of the diode characteristic with temperature. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.