The research of semiconductor nanomaterials is the forefront of contemporary science and technology. Because of its optical nonlinearity and luminescent properties diff erent from the bulk materials, it has great application prospect in the future optical switch, optical storage, light fast conversion and ultra-high speed processing. By arranging the commonly used low-dimensional semiconductor nanomaterials preparation methods and methods of characterization, then compare them, it can helps to open up ideas and aids for in-depth thinking. In this paper, the preparation methods of laser ablation, carbon nanotube template, molten salt, solution-liquid-solid method and template electrochemical method are introduced. The characterization method is analyzed from particle size and morphology, composition and structure analysis, surface interface analysis and several other aspects. KEYWORDS: semiconductor nanomaterials; preparation method; characterization method; Nanoscience is a new scientifi c fi eld that has risen and prevailed in the last century. The fi eld of nanoscience research is a non-macroscopic middle fi eld in which human beings have never been involved, thus opening up a new level of human understanding of the world and allowing people to transform nature directly to molecules and atomic levels. Human science and technology has entered a new era, that is, the nanotechnology era. The new technological revolution, centered on nanotechnology, will become an important research direction in the 21st century. Nano-technology mainly studies the motion laws and interactions between the material composition systems with sizes between 0.1 and 100 nm and its possible practical applications. When the bulk material is gradually refi ned into nano-scale particles, although the composition of the material without any change, but the performance of nanoparticles with the original block of material completely diff erent behavior, such as surface area increases, the electronic state of particles mutations and so on, thus showing a unique volume eff ect, surface eff ect, quantum size eff ect and macro quantum tunneling eff ect, showing a special light, electricity, magnetic, thermal and chemical properties. And these unique performances not only has a wide range of applications in the information storage, optical communications, computers and sensors, metallurgy, chemical and other engineering technology [1], but also opened up some new research and application areas.Because of its optical non-linearity and luminescent properties, the semiconductor nanomaterials have great application prospect in the future optical switch, optical storage, light fast conversion and ultra-high speed processing. In this paper, the main preparation methods and characterization methods of semiconductor nanomaterials are summarized.