  Schottky contacts (SC) at the ferromagnet/ZnO interface are good candidates
for the realization and control of several semiconductor emerging magnetic
phenomena such spin injection and spin-controlled photonics. In this work, we
demonstrate the epitaxial growth of single-phase and wurtzite-ZnO thin films on
fcc Pt/Co$_{0.30}$Pt$_{0.70}$ (111) electrodes by MBE technique. While the
magnetic properties of the Pt/Co$_{0.30}$Pt$_{0.70}$ buffer remain unchanged
after the ZnO growth, the electric measurements of back-to-back Schottky diodes
revealed a Schottky barrier height at the metal/ZnO interfaces in the range of
590-690 meV using Cu, Pt and Co$_{0.30}$Pt$_{0.70}$ contacts. A pinning factor
S and a charge neutrality level (CNL) ${\Phi}_{CNL}$ of 0.08 and 4.94 eV,
respectively, were obtained indicating a strong Fermi-level pining with a CNL
level that lies 0.64 eV below the conductance band of ZnO semiconductor. These
experimental findings indicate that Co$_{0.30}$Pt$_{0.70}$/ZnO interface
follows the metal-induced gap states model and can open a pathway for the
realization of opto-spintronics applications such spin-LEDs.
