group iiiv nanowires offer the exciting possibility of epitaxial growth on a wide variety of substrates , most importantly silicon . to ensure compatibility with si technology , catalyst - free growth schemes are of particular relevance , to avoid impurities from the catalysts . 
 while this type of growth is well - documented and some aspects are described , no detailed understanding of the nucleation and the growth mechanism has been developed . by combining a series of growth experiments using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy , as well as detailed in situ surface imaging and spectroscopy , we gain deeper insight into nucleation and growth of self - seeded iiiv nanowires . by this mechanism 
 most work available in literature concerning this field can be described .