The growth of gold catalyzed ZnSe nanowires, with CdSe insertions, by molecular beam epitaxy is investigated. In situ reflection high energy electron diffraction and ex-situ transmission electron diffraction reveal that both during, the gold dewetting and the nanowire growth, the gold particles remain always in the solid phase. The nanowire growth proceeds by ledge flow at the gold/nanowire interface as observed ex-situ by the presence of two monolayers high steps at the interface. The nanowire diameters present a high homogeneity corresponding to the low dispersion of the gold droplets. Finally, a rather abrupt interface, of less than 1 nm thick, is observed between the ZnSe barrier and the CdSe quantum dot allowing a high confinement of the excitons. All the above observations are compatible with a Vapor-Solid-Solid growth mode. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.