We investigate the Au-assisted growth of InAs nanowires on two differentkinds of heterostructured substrates: GaAs/AlGaAs structures capped by a50 nm thick InAs layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy and a2 µm thick InAs buffer layer on Si(111) obtained by vapor phase epitaxy. Morphological andstructural properties of substrates and nanowires are analyzed by atomic force andtransmission electron microscopy. Our results indicate a promising direction for theintegration of III–V nanostructures on Si-based electronics as well as for the development ofnovel micromechanical structures incorporating nanowires as their active elements.