An InAs ring structure accompanying the formation of quantum dots (QDs) was fabricated on (1 0 0) GaAs using droplet epitaxy. The QDs were located in the vicinity of the ring, due to the diffusion of In atoms from the In droplets. In addition, the dots were found to have distributed elliptically and preferentially along the [0 1 1] direction, implying that In itself prefers to diffuse along the [0 1 1] direction, which is the opposite of the favorable diffusion orientation of group III atoms on (1 0 0) GaAs under a commonly used As-stabilized growth condition. This is the first observation of a ring structure accompanying the formation of quantum dots in droplet epitaxy. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.