A novel method was applied to prepare beta-Ga2O3 nanorods. In this method, beta-Ga2O3 nanorods have been successfully synthesized on Si( 1 1 1) substrates through annealing sputtered Ga2O3/Mo films under flowing ammonia at 950 degrees C in a quartz tube. The as-synthesized nanorods are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results show that the nanorod is single-crystalline Ga2O3 with monoclinic structure. The beta-Ga2O3 nanorods are straight and smooth with diameters in the range of 200-300 nm and lengths typically up to several micrometers. The growth process of the beta-Ga2O3 nanorods is probably dominated by conventional vapor-solid (VS) mechanism. (C) 2007 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.