Bulk InGaAs, InGaAsP and multi-quantum-well (MQW) gain materials were grown with selective-area-growth (SAG) techniques using a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system. A systematic study of wavelength shift, thickness enhancement, and photoluminescence (PL) intensity as a function of oxide and opening widths was performed. From the results, we found that the material degradation is independent of the width of the oxide opening and only depends on the ratio of oxide width and opening width. From the growth thickness enhancement and the wavelength shift studies, we have also found that the wavelength shift in the MQW materials is near 50% contributed from the quantum Size effect and 50% from the material composition changes. With the composition change in bulk materials, the amount of compressive strain was calculated. By using a right amount of strain compensation we have improved the long wavelength material quality and achieved high PL gain materials with a very wide wavelength shift. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.