In this work, high-quality free-standing ZnO single-crystal microtubes with hexagonal cross-section were fabricated by an optical image furnace. Optical vapor supersaturated precipitation (OVSP) and axial photothermal-decomposition were proposed to interpret the microrods growth and microtubes formation, respectively. The maximum dimensions of the grown microtube were 5 mm in length, 100 mu m in diameter and 1 mu m in facet wall thickness. In our previous work, a new room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) peak (similar to 392 nm) of ZnO microtubes was attributed to VZn-related donor-acceptor-pairs (DAP) transition. This work further confirmed the VZn-related acceptors widely existing during ZnO microrods/ microtubes growth by OVSP. The effects of major growth parameters (e.g. lamp power, filament geometry and growth platform shape) on temperature field at the growth platform of precursor rod were studied by a finite element model as well. The lamp power of 65% (1500 W), thick single-filament and appropriate conical growth platform were optimized for a uniform temperature field to achieve consistent finish quality of microtubes and prevent twin-microtubes formation. This work would be beneficial for batch growth of the novel ZnO microtubes/microrods with high quality for a variety of applications.