InAs has been grown on W-GaAs patterned substrates using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. It is shown that the W pattern guides the nucleation of the InAs on the GaAs substrate and that the islands formed may be used to embed metal features in a hybrid InAs/GaAs structure. A lower resistance (factor of 2) was measured for the hybrid structures as compared to reference structures. The reduction in the resistance is attributed to an increased carrier concentration as observed from Hall measurements on devices with different tungsten densities. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy investigations reveal a void-free overgrowth above the metal despite the large mismatch of the InAs/GaAs system. (C) 2009 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3222859]