Arrays of single crystalline gold nanowires were synthesized electrochemically in porous polycarbonate mem-branes. The polycarbonate membrane was then removed to obtain free-standing nanowires for field emissionmeasurements. The tu-on electric field strength for field emission is found to be lower than 2V/μm. The actualelectric field that extracted electrons out of the gold nanowires is estimated to be about 1 03 times higher than thefield directly expected in the model of a parallel plate condenser. The availability of the field emission is thereforeattributed to the strong electric field at the tips resulting from smallcurvature radius of the gold nanowires.