The formation of InAs self-assembled islands on the InP(3 1 1)B surface in Stranski-Krastanow growth mode is investigated. First, we study the island nucleation on (1 0 0) and (3 1 1)B InP surfaces by means of low-temperature photoluminescence. We show that the InAs deposition at a substrate temperature of 480degreesC leads to formation of islands during the deposition on (3 1 1)B InP surface. On the other hand, morphological transformation occurs only during an annealing stage on (1 0 0) surfaces. Such a difference is related to the lower surface energy cost of island formation on InP(3 1 1)B. Then, we study the island characteristics as a function of substrate temperature and growth rate. Smaller islands are achieved at lower growth temperature. It should be related to a fast nucleation step, followed by a diffusion controlled island growth stage. Finally, we investigate the island stability by performing annealing after growth. The island height increases and density decreases as a function of the annealing time. This implies that Oswald ripening takes place and thus island arrays on (3 1 1)B surface do not correspond to a free energy minimum. We conclude that the island formation on InP(3 1 1)B is mainly governed by kinetic effects. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.