Optimum exper~mental conditions were established for the growth of heteroepitaxial GaAs layers on InP using liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique. Results showed that the optimum growth temperature was $720^{circ}C$ at a cooling rate of $0.5^{circ}C$/min. Surface morphology of the grown layers significantly improved by addition of about 0.005wt% Se to the Ga growth melt, which effectively suppressed melt-back of InP substrates into the melt during the initial stage of growth. It was observed that the quality of GaAs layers also improved substantially when the substrates patterned with grating structure were used, as determined by the (400) double crystal X-ray diffraction. The transmission electron microscopy observation indicated t.hat the misfit dislocations interact with each other at the grating region, resulting in a lower dislocation density in the upper GaAs layer.