In this work, we investigate the growth of uniform cerium oxide (CeO2) nanorods (NRs) in vertically aligned form by using glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique on silicon substrates. The samples were annealed at different temperatures and 800 degrees C proved to be the best annealing temperature. FESEM revealed the growth of CeO2 NRs in vertically well-aligned form. XRD data showed better crystallinity and sharpened peaks in the case of annealed samples. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra obtained for the samples can be related to the abundant defects in the NRs. The annealed CeO2 NR device showed increased photocurrent which can be attributed to the oxygen adsorption and desorption process that occurred at the NR surface. Under UV illumination, the device annealed at 800 degrees C displayed maximum responsivity of 7.8 A/W, detectivity of 3.26 x 10(12) Jones and noise equivalent power of 1.29 x 10(-14) W at 4 V bias. Thus, the annealed device exhibited good photodetection capabilities.