Abstract: TeO₂ nanowires were synthesized on Au-coated glass substrates at 450℃ by thermal evaporation method using Te powders as the source material. The structures and morphology of TeO₂ nanowires were characterized by X-ray diffraction， scanning electron microscopy， and transmission electron microscopy. A possible growth mechanism was proposed. The results showed that TeO₂ nanowires with a tetragonal structure were approximately 70~200nm in diameter and several hundreds of micrometers to 2mm in length. By the morphology observation of the as-prepared products obtained at different growth times， the growth process of TeO₂ nanowires was analyzed. It is concluded that the growth of TeO₂ nanowires is based on vapor-solid growth mechanism， where Au film deposited on the glass substrates is possibly used for inducing and accelerating the growth of TeO₂ nanowires.

Key words: TeO₂, nanowires, microstructure, thermal evaporation, growth mechanism