The growth of GaInN quantum dots, emitting in the green spectral range, by selective epitaxy is presented in this paper. With this approach we are able to control the position of the dot completely during the growth, which is essential for functionalising of a single quantum dot. For this purpose we have studied the selective growth of hexagonal pyramids on a GaN buffer layer, masked with SiO2,, by MOVPE. After the proper build-up of the pyramid, these templates were overgrown by InGaN to form a quantum dot on top of the pyramids. To investigate the optical emission of the fabricated nanostructures, the samples were capped by GaN and photoluminescence, and also time-resolved measurements were performed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.