The growth of Pt-catalyzed SiOx nanowires by rapid thermal annealing at 900 degrees C is demonstrated in the study. The growth of the nanowire is found to occur via a catalyst driven VLS mechanism. The seed particle composed of Pt-Si alloy is observed from the reaction between SiO2 and the catalytic Pt film. When the annealing time exceeds 60 s, the SiOx nanowires first agglomerate, and then collapse to form dendritic islands on the surface. The dendritic islands may result from the reaction between Pt-Si seed particle and SiOx nanowires, and are identified to be the Pt-Si compound. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.