A two-step approach for macro-synthesis of GaN nanowires was developed in this study. GaN nanoparticles were firstly synthesized through a facile solid-state reaction using an organic reagent dicyandiamide (C2N4H4) and Ga2O3 as precursors. Subsequently, single-crystalline wurtzite GaN nanowires were grown on gold-coated 6H-SiC substrates via novel pulsed electron deposition (PED) technique using the as-prepared GaN nanoparticles as target, which provides a new route employing nanoparticles as precursors to fabricate GaN nanowires. It is found that pulsed electron ablation induced Ga and N plasma directly towards the gold-coated substrate to initialize the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth processes. The morphological and structural properties were investigated in detail and Raman scattering spectrum of these nanowires presented some new features. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.