In order to reduce the cost of preparing ZnO/YIG for studying the excitation and propagation of spin waves by SAW, the ZnO thin films were deposited on lower cost GGG by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Then, the singleport SAW resonator of ZnO/GGG quasi22 type was studied. The microstructure and morphology of the films were characterized and analyzed by Xray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the ZnO films exhibit the advantages of smooth surface, low residual stress and high caxis preferred orientation when a 4 cm3/min oxygen flow is introduced and ZnO thin films are annealed at 450 ℃ in an oxygen atmosphere. The measured surface acoustic wave frequency is 201 MHz, the corresponding phase velocity is 3 216 m/s, and the electromechanical coupling coefficient is 0.22%, indicating that the prepared ZnO thin film has potential in the research and application of high frequency surface acoustic wave devices.