We successfully confirmed unique atomic structures in a trench around an InAs quantum dot (QD) at 300 °C. The trench structure was consisted by various atomic steps which included 4 × structures (InAs (4×2) and/or GaAs (4×6)) at an upper terrace edge next to a step. As distant from the upper terrace edge, frequency of 4 × structures decreased and gradually converged to 2 × structures (InAs (2×4), InAs (2×3), and GaAs (2×4)). © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.