improve light extraction from ZnS:Mn thin-film phosphors, we have studied the effects of introducing various two-dimensional (2D) SiO2 nanorod arrays onto glass substrates. We determined the effects of 2D nanorods on the morphology and cathodoluminescence (CL) emissions of ZnS: Mn thin films with a view to optimizing the lattice constant of the array and the diameters of the nanorods. Particle-like thin-film phosphors were obtained from the sputtering growth of ZnS: Mn thin films on the nanorod-modified glass substrates, particularly for nanorods with higher aspect ratios and lower nanorod array density. We obtained a significant enhancement (a factor of similar to 6.4) of the CL extraction efficiency at the interface between ZnS and air, for low voltage (1.0-6.0 kV) electron beam excitation of ZnS: Mn thin-film phosphors deposited on 2D SiO2 nanorod-modified substrates. This improvement in the extraction efficiency is due to the uniform and nanoscale particle-like morphology of these thin-film phosphors, as well as to the diffraction scattering produced by the 2D periodic nanorod array. (c) 2005 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.