ZnO nanorods were grown on Si substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The ZnO nanorods were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction. It was found that highly oriented ZnO single-crystalline nanorods were formed only on the substrate coated with a gold film. Without the gold, ZnO was deposited as a continuous film. No Au was observed on top of the ZnO nanorods, implying that the Au plays no role as catalytic metal in vapor-liquid-solid mechanism for formation of ZnO nanorods. In CVD, oriented ZnO nanorods along the c-axis were grown as a result of < 111 > textured Au. High-resolution TEM shows that the gold layer and ZnO are in orientation relationship of Au 111 planes//ZnO (0002) basal planes. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.