Vertically aligned SnO2 nanowires (NWs) were grown for the first time by a vapor-liquid-solid method on c-sapphire with gold as a catalyst under At gas flow. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis indicated the NWs are single crystalline having the rutile structure, grow vertically along the [10 0] direction, and exhibit a consistent epitaxial relationship where lattice mismatch is estimated to be 0.3% along the SnO2 [0 1 0] direction. The growth of these NWs is sensitive to many parameters, including growth duration, substrate type, source vapor concentration, and the thickness of the catalyst layer. Photoluminescence measurements at room temperature showed that the vertically aligned NWs exhibit an intense transition at 3.64 eV, a near band-edge transition which is rarely observed in SnO2. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.