Liquid-phase epitaxial growth of Ge islands on insulator (GOI) using Ni-imprint-induced Si (1 1 1) microcrystal seeds (similar to 1 mu m phi) is proposed. As a result, single-crystalline GOI (1 1 1) structures with large area (similar to 10 mu m phi) are realized. The transmission electron microscopy observations reveal no dislocation or stacking fault in the laterally grown regions. Moreover, the Raman measurements show that the tensile strain (similar to 0.2%) which enhances the carrier mobility is induced in the growth regions. This new method can be employed to realize the multi-functional SiGe large scale integrated circuits. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.