Isoelectronically substitutional material systems are proposed as offering a unique possibility to study the physics of different regimes from single isoelectronic centers (ICs) to self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) within the same material combinations. Luminescence evolution of ZnSe:Te system were investigated as such isoelectronically substitutional system. A successive change in the spectral dominance of luminescence with increasing ZnTe layer thickness indicates the evolution from ICs to QDs in ZnSe:Te system. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.