A series of self-assembled InN dots are grown by radio frequency (RF) plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) directly on nitrided sapphire. Initial nitridation of the sapphire substrates at 900 degrees C results in the formation of a rough AlN surface layer, which acts as a very thin buffer layer and facilitates the nucleation of the InN dots according to the Stranski-Krastanow growth mode, with a wetting layer of similar to 0.9 nm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that well-confined InN nanoislands with the greatest height/width at half-height ratio of 0.64 can be grown at 460 degrees C. Lower substrate temperatures result in a reduced aspect ratio due to a lower diffusion rate of the In adatoms whereas the thermal decomposition of InN truncates the growth at T > 500 degrees C. The densities of separated dots vary between 1.0 x 10(10) and 2.5 x 10(10) cm(-2) depending on the growth time. Optical response of the InN dots under laser excitation is studied with apertureless near-field scanning optical microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy, although no photoluminescence is observed from these samples. In view of the desirable implementation of InN nanostructures into photonic devices, the results indicate that nitrided sapphire is a suitable substrate for growing self-assembled InN nanodots. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.