The features of island nucleation in multilayer SiGe structures were investigated experimentally revealing differences in the wetting layer formation between single- and multilayer structures A significant redistribution of the wetting layer material caused by the inhomogeneous strain fields produced by the buried Islands of underlying layers which leads to the formation of hills was found out It was observed that these hills are the preferable sites for the islands nucleation in the upper layers The pathway of Island formation via the faceting of the hill s sides was revealed (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved