Single crystalline Sn-doped ZnO nanowires were successfully synthesized on indium tin oxide (ITO)coated glass substrate by simple thermal evaporation approach without introducing any catalysts. The morphology and microstructure were determined by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The investigation confirmed that the products were of the wurtzite structure of ZnO. These doped nanowires have diameters in the range 30-50 nm and lengths of several tens of micrometers with growth direction along the c-axis of the crystal plane. Photoluminescence of these doped nanowires exhibits a weak ultraviolet (UV) emission peak at around 400 nm and the strong green emission peak at around 495 nm at room temperature, which may be induced by the Sn-doping. The growth mechanism of the doped nanowires was also discussed. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.