A technique is presented to achieve pendeoepitaxy of GaAs and In(0.15)Gao(0.85)As. GaAs/Al0.96Ga0.04 As templates were formed by etching patterns into the surface and oxidizing the exposed Al0.96Ga0.04As to form AlOx, which acts as a mask material. Experiments were performed for the homoepitaxial GaAs growth while varying the growth rate, AsH3 partial pressure, and the growth temperature to find conditions that produce near vertical sidewalls and smooth surfaces. In0.15Ga0.85As heteroepitaxy was performed to evaluate if any improvement in crystal quality could be achieved for growth on the engineered template compared to planar heteroepitaxy. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.