In this study, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) transparent conducting films were deposited as seed layers by sol-gel method, followed by UV exposure and subsequent thermal curing at a low temperature of 300 degrees C. Zinc oxide nanorod arrays were then hydrothermally grown on the seed layers at 70 degrees C. By the activation of UV exposure, the 300 degrees C cured AZO seed layers possessed an obvious crystallinity and a [002] texture. The well-aligned and vertical growth of high density zinc oxide nanorods with a [002] preferred orientation and strong photoluminescence was consequently accomplished on the UV-exposed seed layers. The zinc oxide nanorods were characterized as single crystals of typical wurtzite structure with a (002) lattice spacing of 0.26 nm. Highly [002] textured grains with small-angle misfits of lattice orientations in the UV-exposed seed layers dominated the aligned growth of the nanorod arrays. (C) 2009 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI:10.1149/1.3222853] All rights reserved.