Patterning surfaces by self-organized growth

Much effort has been devoted to create semiconductor and metal nanostructures at surfaces. Their controlled fabrication, in particular the creation of lateral order, however, remains an experimental challenge. In this contribution we discuss the fabrication of nanostructures via self-organized growth at surfaces. Advantages and limitations of diffusion controlled molecular beam epitaxy are discussed and novel routes for the fabrication of ordered nanostructures are presented.