The formation of Ge nanoislands directly on Si(111) surface before the completion of a wetting layer was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy. The mechanism of the wetting layer formation in the Ge/Si(111) system depends on the rate of Ge deposition. Within the temperature range 350-500 degrees C, with Ge deposition rates of the order of 10(-3) bilayers/min, the Ge wetting layer is formed by the multilayer growth mechanism. Therefore, the arrays of Ge islands with the densities of 10(9)-10(12) cm(-2), depending on the rate of Ge deposition, appear directly on the Si surface during the evolution of the wetting layer. The height of Ge islands is limited by 3 bilayers. The lateral dimensions depend on the coverage of Ge and on the growth temperature. A series of lines related to the quantization of the phonon spectrum along the growth direction [111] was observed in the spectra of Raman scattering by optical phonons of Ge nanoislands. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.