The selective growth of wurtzile GaN was performed by MOVPE on (1 1 1) facets on a patterned 7-degree off-oriented (0 0 1) silicon substrate, which had been prepared by anisotropic etching with KOH solution. The c-axis of the GaN was along the [1 1 1] axis of the silicon. At an early growth stage, the shape of the crystal grown selectively was a stripe having truncated triangular cross-section and its (1 (1) over bar 0 1) facet was parallel to the substrate surface. After a sufficient growth duration, the stripes coalesced with each other and a GaN film with a flat (1 (1) over bar 0 1) surface was achieved. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.