Dual gate ZnO nanowire field-effect transistor (FET) with high-k Al2O3 or HfO2 gate dielectrics was configured, which shows good transistor performance with a high on/off ratio (similar to 10(4)), a low operation voltage (below 1 V), a high peak transconductance (7.5 nS), a relatively high field effect mobility (0.27 cm(2)/V.s) and ultralow leakage current (similar to 10(-13)A). These results indicated that the ZnO nanowire FET in top-gate mode provided a better device performance than that in bottom-gate mode. Moreover, the effects of Al2O3 and HfO2 gate dielectric layers on enhancing the FET performance were discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.