Diamond nanorods were fabricated for a sensing device by utilizing reactive ion etching in CF4/O-2 radio frequency plasma. The length of the nanorods has been controlled by the ion etching time. The obtained morphologies were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The gas sensing properties of the H-terminated diamond-based sensor structures are indicating that we have achieved high sensitivity to detect phosgene gas. Also, our sensor exhibited good selectivity between humid air and phosgene gas if the measurement is conducted at elevated temperatures, such as 140 degrees C. Furthermore, such sensor response rating could reach as high value as 4344 for the phosgene gas, which was evaluated for the sample consisting of the longest nanorods (up to 200 nm). (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.