Silicon nanowires (Si-NWs) arrays show better optical properties compared to planar Si, fundamental aspect in the photoconversion process for e cient solar cells. In this work wires with diameters ranging from 3 to a few dozen nanometers were grown by the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. The metal catalysts chosen, gold, by far preponderant in literature and an innovative one ie tin, were deposited via sputtering onto Si substrates. The growth was carried out with an Inductively Coupled Chemical Vapor Deposition (IP-CVD) system. An e cient post growth gold removal procedure has been developed as gold residuals worsens the electrical properties of photovoltaic devices. Several investigation techniques including SEM, TEM, EFTEM, XPS have been used for the materials characterization