We fabricate Schottky diodes with the contact between a sol-gel derived ZnO layer and Au that guarantees the expected Schottky contact due to the high work function. The formed single metal Schottky barrier shows characteristics comparable to the barrier formed by alloys. Au is deposited by thermal evaporation on a ZnO thin film that is optimally formed under sol-gel process conditions of a 1-mol zinc acetate concentration and a 3000-rpm coating speed. Possible defects. which can provide deleterious current paths. are minimized by patterning the deposited Au. The I-V curve verifies the formation of a Schottky contact. Measurements showed that the Schottky barrier height and leakage current at -5 V were 0.6 eV and 1×10-12A. respectively.