A rapid synthesis of niobium oxide nanowires using an oxygen atmospheric pressure plasma jet sustained by repetitive DC pulse power is presented. Using this plasma jet to treat niobium foils, niobium oxide nanowires (NWs) with the length up to 3-6 mu m and the diameter of 100-200 nm can be fabricated within 20 s. Parametric studies show that a high growth rate can be obtained with the synergetic effect of the temperature and the reactivity of the plasma jet. The structural analysis of the jet treated niobium foil shows that in the case that no NW is formed, the major phases are Nb(6)O and orthorhombic Nb(2)O(5) while with the presence of NWs, high crystalline monoclinic Nb(2)O(5) is the dominant phase. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.