Sulfur-doped ZnO nanowires were successfully synthesized by a very simple chemical solution-conversion process at room temperature, in which the precursor ZnO nanowires were immersed in thiourea solution for 10 h to get S-doped ZnO nanowires. The S-doped ZnO nanowires have diameters of about 80 nm and lenghts up to 10 mum. The S-doped ZnO nanowires also indicate single crystalline wurtzite structure and (0 0 0 1) growth direction. Photoluminescence spectra of S-doped ZnO nanowires show blue shift of the UV emission and complication of green emissions compared with that of pure ZnO nanowires. The possible growth mechanism is also discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.