ZnO nanowire arrays have been successfully synthesized on transparent quartz glass substrate by chemical vapor deposition technique. Our work demonstrates the critical role of the growth temperature and the buffer layer on the effective control of the morphology of ZnO nanowires. A proper growth temperature and the thicker buffer layer could promise the good alignment and high density of the nanowires. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum shows that the buffer layer has also great effects on optical properties of ZnO nanowire arrays. The integrated intensity ratio [I-UV/I-Visible band] of the ZnO UV emission peak to visible band emission decreases with the increase of the thickness of the buffer layers. The obtained nanowire arrays have transmittance of above 50% in the visible region. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.