Selective molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of GaAs quantum dots (QDs) on the uniform and periodic arrays of triangle nanocavities bounded by SiO2 mask on Si substrate has been realized. These triangle nanocavities with vertical sidewalls, known as windows, are obtained on Si substrate with thin layer SiO2 on the surface by combining inductively coupled plasma etching and nanosphere lithography. MBE growth conditions are optimized to achieve a vanishingly small sticking coefficient of incident Ga atoms on the SiO2 surface and a near unity sticking coefficient on the open triangle Si substrate surface, achieving selective growth of GaAs QDs on these triangle nanocavities. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.