High-density and uniform well-aligned ZnO sub-micron rods are synthesized on the silicon substrate over a large area. The morphology and structure of the ZnO sub-micron rods are investigated by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectra. It is found that the ZnO sub-micron rods are of high crystal quality with the diameter in the range of 400-600 nm and the length of several micrometres long. The optical properties were studied by photoluminescence spectra. The results show that the intensity of the ultraviolet emission at 3.3 eV is rather high, meanwhile the deep level transition centred at about 2.38eV is weak. The free exciton emission could also be observed at low temperature, which implies the high optical quality of the ZnO sub-micron rods.This growth technique provides one effective way to fabricate the high crystal quality ZnO nanowires array, which is very important for potential applications in the new-type optoelectronic nanodevices.