Abstract In this article, ZnO thin-film deposition on a glass substrate was done using microwave induced oxygen plasma based CVD system. The prepared thin-films were tested in terms of crystallinity and optical properties by varying the microwave power. The effect of power variation on the morphology and size of final products was carefully investigated. The crystal structure, chemical composition and morphology of the final products were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL). This technique confirmed the presence of hexagonal ZnO nanocrystals in all the thin-films. The minimum crystallite grain size as obtained from the XRD measurements was ~9.7 nm and the average diameter was ~18 nm.