A two step etching process has been used to fabricate wire and dot nanostructures from CdTe/CdZnTe quantum wells with high optical qualities. Wires and dots are first etched by the usual process of electron beam lithography and ion beam etching then, anodic oxidation is used to etch nanostructures to their final lateral sizes. We have observed remarkable improvements in the optical properties of these nanostructures as compared to the single step etching process. Their photoluminescence spectra are similar to that of the reference quantum well, with an exciton linewidth of about 3 meV, even for the smallest wires (100 nm) and dots (250 nm) which were studied. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.