In this paper, a very simple procedure was presented for the reproducible synthesis of large-area SnO 2 nanowires (NWs) on a silicon substrate by evaporating Sn powders at temperatures of 700, 750, and 800°C. As-obtained SnO 2 NWs were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. They revealed that the morphology of the NWs is affected by growth temperature and the SnO 2 NWs are single-crystalline tetragonal. The band gap of the NWs is in the range of 4.2–4.3eV as determined from UV/visible absorption. The NWs show stable photoluminescence with an emission peak centered at around 620nm at room-temperature. The sensors fabricated from the SnO 2 NWs synthesized at 700°C exhibited good response to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) at an operating temperature of 400°C.