Ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors are important optoelectronic devices. The development of a high-performance UV detector, however, has been impeded by lack of stable p-type wide gap semiconductors. Herein, an extremely high UV response for a ZnO nanorods/phenanthrene (Phen) photovoltaic detector has been realized, utilizing phenanthrene as a p-type wide gap organic semiconductor; a detectivity (D*) as high as ∼9.0 × 10¹³ cm Hz^1/2 W⁻¹ has been reached, showing significant potential for optoelectronic applications.