Zinc-sulfide (ZnS) nanoribbons and nanowires were fabricated via thermal evaporation of ZnS
powder using a gold catalyst. The ZnS nanoribbons had thicknesses of about 100 nm, lateral dimensions of
several micrometers and lengths of hundreds to thousands of micrometers. The ZnS nanowires have
diameters of 200 nm and lengths of thousands of micrometers. The photoluminescence of the as-synthesized
ZnS nanostructures in temperature range from 15 K to room temperature was investigated. We observed two
groups of lines, one in the ultraviolet (UV) and one in the visible regions of the photoluminescence
spectrum, at 15 K for the ZnS nanoribbons and nanowires. The UV lines were located at 3.777 eV (328.3
nm), 3.735 eV (332.0 nm), 3.699 eV (335.2 nm), 3.657 eV (339.0 nm), 3.618 eV (342.7 nm), 3.573 eV
(347.0 nm) and 3.391 eV (365.6 nm). The visible lines were located at 3.024 eV (410.0 nm), 2.842 eV
(436.3 nm) and 2.450 eV (506.1 nm). The origins of these emission lines will be discussed.
