We propose a novel application of "self-assembling" one-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures for nanoscale electromechanical systems. A sacrificial layer of a GaAs/AlGaAs supperlattice under InAs wires preferentially grown on bunched steps on misoriented GaAs (1 1 0) surfaces was selectively etched to form semiconductor cantilevers that have typical lengths, widths, and thicknesses of 50-300, 20-100 and 10-20 nm, respectively. The force constant, as measured by the force-modulation imaging technique using contact-mode atomic force microscopy, ranges from 0.5 to 10N/m, showing good agreement with that estimated from the elastic constant of InAs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.