In this paper, a selective area growth (SAG) approach for growing GaN microrods on patterned SiNx/Si (111) substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is studied. The surface morphology, optical and structural properties of vertical GaN microrods terminated by pyramidal shaped facets (six {10 (1) over bar1} planes) were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), room temperature photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. Measurements revealed high quality GaN microcolumns grown with silane support. Characterized structures were grown nearly strain tree (central frequency of Raman peak of 567 +/- 1 cm(-1)) with crystal quality comparable to bulk crystals (EVVHM=4.2 +/- 1 cm(-1)). Such GaN microrods might be used as a next generation device concept for solid-state lighting (SSL) applications by realizing core shell InGaN/GaN multi quantum wells (MQWs) on the n-GaN rod base. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.