Transmuted impurity atoms formed in neutron-irradiated ZnO thin films were theoretically identified first and then experimentally confirmed by photoluminescence (PL). ZnO thin films grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy were irradiated by neutron beam at room temperature. The ZnO films consist of eight constituent (Zn and O) isotropes, of which four are transmutable by neutron-irradiation; $^{64}$ , $^{68}$ Zn, $^{70}$ Zn and $^{18}$ O were expected to transmute into $^{65}$ Cu, $^{69}$ Ga, $^{71}$ Ga, and $^{19}$ F, respectively. The concentrations of these transmuted atoms were estimated in this study by considering natural abundance, neutron fluence and neutron cross section. The neutron-irradiated ZnO thin films were characterized by PL. In the PL spectra of the ZnO thin films, the Cu-related PL peaks were seen, but the Ga- or F-associated PL peaks were absent. This observation confirmed the existence of $^{65}$ Cu in the ZnO, but it could not do the formation of the other two. In this paper, the emission mechanism of Cu impurities is described and the reason for the absence of the Ga- or F-associated PL peaks is discussed as well.