Nano and submicron rods of semiconductor tin oxide (SnO2) have been synthesized via thermal evaporation technique. Various substrates such as oxidized silicon (Si/SiO2), porous alumina (Al2O3), oxidized and anodized titanium (Ti/TiO2), with the sputtered platinum (Pt) catalyst, have been utilized for this purpose. The effect of Pt sputtering time and the nature of the substrate on the size distribution and the morphology of the SnO2 rods and their substrate-surface-coverage have been investigated. The formation of nano and submicron SnO2 rods has been attributed to the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) and vapor-solid (VS) growth mechanisms depending on the processing conditions.