The initial stages of the electrodeposition of gold from Au(CN)(2)(-)-solutions on n-GaAs were investigated by means of chrono-amperometry and ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). Three different crystal orientations were examined, i.e. (111), ((111) over bar) and (100) n-GaAs. Analysis of the experimental current transients showed that the nucleation mechanism of Au on n-GaAs depends strongly on the surface orientation and the deposition potential, which was confirmed by AFM measurements. This can be explained by differences in chemical composition of the surface. Further, it was observed that the An nuclei grow laterally, which results in a flat morphology. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.