A ZnO nanorod (NR) bridge structure has been synthesized across geminated Si substrates (on which various metals were pre-deposited) by one-step thermal evaporation. The photoresponse and current-voltage (I-V) properties of a ZnO nanorod detector were observed at room temperature. By photocurrent spectroscopy, strong near-band-edge (NBE) absorption at the UV region was observed. The presented results demonstrate the feasibility of spontaneous formation of a novel device based on ZnO NRs without a high-cost complex process. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.