Indium oxide (In2O3) nanorods, nanotowers and tin-doped (Sn:In = 1:100) indium oxide (ITO) nanorods have been fabricated by thermal evaporation. The morphology, microstructure and chemical composition of these three nanoproducts are characterized by FE-SEM, HRTEM and XPS. To further investigate the optoelectronic properties, the I-V curves and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra are measured. The electrical resistivity of In2O3 nanorods, nanotowers and ITO nanorods are 1.32 k Omega, 0.65 k Omega and 0.063 k Omega, respectively. CL spectra of these three nanoproducts clearly indicate that tin-doped (Sn: In = 1: 100) indium oxide (ITO) nanorods cause a blue shift. No doubt ITO nanorods obtain the highest performance among these three nanoproducts, and this also means that Sn-doped In2O3 nanostructures would be the best way to enhance the optoelectronic properties. Additionally, the growing mechanism and the optoelectronic properties of these three nanostructures are discussed. This study is beneficial to the applications of In2O3 nanorods, nanotowers and ITO nanorods in optoelectronic nanodevices. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.