Results of high-pressure solution growth of GaN on GaN/sapphire substrates, patterned in GaN parallel stripes, are presented. The stripe growth in lateral and c-directions is examined and analyzed in detail. A defect-selective etching method is used to determine the dislocation densities in the areas corresponding to the initial stripes and the laterally overgrown material. Some experimental conditions necessary to obtain low dislocation density in the overgrown GaN stripes are defined. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.