3D (Ga,In)/GaInP structures were grown on polycrystalline InP substrates by the MOCVD technique. The growth temperature was varied from 600 to 700degreesC. Trimethyl-gallium and N-2, were, respectively, used as the Ga source and the carrier gas. These newly presented 3D structures have a scepter-like shape and are composed of a long GaInP internal support (rods of tens of pin long and tens of nm diameter) capped by a micrometer size metallic (Ga,In) structure. These structures were characterized by the SEM, EDX and TEM techniques. High-resolution TEM shows that the support rods present a GaInP single crystal structure. A preliminary discussion about the growth step mechanism, based on the VLS model, is also presented. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.