Abstract We report the growth of Bismuth (Bi) nanowires and nanoparticles on glass substrates using a radio frequency (RF) sputtering system. The growth temperature and RF power were varied to study the growth mechanism of the nanowires or nanoparticles. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) / transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of the samples under various growth conditions were taken to reveal the morphologies of the Bi nanowires and films. We found that the optimal conditions for growing Bi nanowires were 120 ~ 160 ˚C, 0.5 W/cm2 (growth rate 40 Å/s at RT), and 240 s. The optimal conditions for growing Bi nanoparticles were above 200 ˚C, 0.12 W/cm2 (growth rate 6 Å/s at RT). A Tauc plot was used to determine the optical gap of different size nanoparticles.