The research into one-dimensional semiconductor nanowires can be traced back to 1960s when Wagner proposed the well-known vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth model to explain silicon and germanium microwhiskers growth from metal islands with a feedstock of vapor source. This VLS mechanism was revisited in early 1990s when researchers synthesized a variety of nanowhiskers. Undergone a quick expansion triggered by a series of breakthroughs in later 1990s to early 2000s, semiconductor nanowires have now been developed into a mature field with very active research in several subfields such as nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, nanocomposites, and biosensing. Recent exciting progresses such as screw dislocation-driven growth mechanism, nanowires for energy applications, and nanowire biosensor for intracellular probing suggest that semiconductor nanowires are still a rising field with much room to explore in this decade.

The main focus of this special issue will be on the recent development in mechanistic understanding of the synthesis of semiconductor nanowires and nanotubes, fundamental studies, and their diverse applications. The topics to be covered in this special issue include, but are not limited to:

• Novel synthetic approaches and modulated or hybrid heterostructures: oriented array of nanowires and nanotubes and their applications
• New insights in vapor-liquid-solid and screw dislocation-driven nanowire growth mechanisms
• Phenomena related to confined behavior due to quantum size and low dimensionality, such as confined electrons, photons, excitons, and phonons
• Nanoelectronics such as 3D integration, memory, or high-frequency devices
• Nanophotonics such as nanolasers and light-emitting diodes
• New instrumentation or techniques to study nanomaterials
• Semiconductor nanomaterials for energy applications, such as photovoltaics (solar cells and dye-sensitized solar cells), battery, thermoelectricity, and photocatalytic conversions
• Biosensing and gas sensing properties

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnt/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: