ZnSe nanowire growth has been successfully achieved on ZnSe (1 0 0) and (1 1 1)B buffer layers deposited on GaAs substrates. Cubic [1 0 0] oriented ZnSe nanowires or [0 0 0 1] oriented hexagonal NWs are obtained on (1 0 0) substrates while [1 1 1] oriented cubic mixed with [0 0 0 1] oriented hexagonal regions are obtained on (1 1 1)B substrates. Most of the NWs are perpendicular to the surface in the last case. CdSe quantum dots were successfully incorporated in the ZnSe NWs as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy, energy filtered TEM and high angle annular dark field scanning TEM measurements. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.