In this paper, Al-doped ZnO nanorods (AZO NRs) were successfully applied on glass substrates through hydrothermal synthesis growth with a fabrication field-emission (FE) device. The enhanced FE properties of AZO NRs were measured. The turn-on fields were reduced by 2.35 and 1.51 V/ \mu \textm in the dark and under UV light, and the enhanced field enhancement factors ( $\beta $ ) were 5708 and 10137, respectively. Results show that the FE performances of AZO NRs were enhanced by the combined effect of increased carrier concentration and UV light illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]