Amorphous SiO2 nanowires are successfully fabricated on fused silica substrates covered by nickel/carbon catalyst bilayers via a method of pulsed laser deposition accompanied by annealing in ambient N-2. The field emission scanning electron microscopy images show that the optimum annealing temperature for the growth of SiO2 nanowires is about 1200 degrees C and the grown SiO2 nanowires become denser, longer and more uniform with the increment of annealing duration. The results of transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy show that the grown nanowires are amorphous and have dark spheres on their tops. The analyses of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy reveal that the nanowires are composed of SiO2 and the dark spheres on their tops contain little nickel. It is inferred that nickel, carbon and CO are the key elements to promote the SiO2 nanowire growth in the solid-liquid solid mode. Transmission spectra demonstrate that the as-grown nanowire thin films can have about 94% average transmittance in the range of 350-800 nm, meanwhile the photoluminescence spectra of the as-grown SiO2 nanowire samples show stable ultraviolet emission centered at about 363 nm with a shoulder at about 393 nm. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.