Semiconductor single-crystal ZnS nanowires have been successfully synthesized in bulk quantities by a new. simple and low cost process based on thermal evaporation of ZnS powders onto a silicon substrate with the presence of Au catalyst. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observations show that the ZnS nanowires have diameters about 30 60 nm and lengths up to several tens micrometers. The growth of ZnS nanowires is controlled by the conventional vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. And the photoluminescence (PL) properties of these synthesized single-crystal ZnS nanowires have been presented in this Letter. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.