Epitaxial growth of ZnO nanorod arrays via a self-assembled microspheres lithography

•Only one rod grows in the confined space under optimized growth conditions.•ϕ-scan shows six-fold symmetry implying a good epitaxial relationship.•Well aligned ZnO nanorods were fabricated by a simple hydrothermal method.•AZO buffer layers relax the strain from lattice mismatch between ZnO and substrate.