The interaction of the antiphase boundaries that are formed at the ear
ly stage of growth with the interfacial misfit dislocations is studied
by transmission electron microscopy using contrast criteria. Experime
ntal analysis has shown that the shifting of the misfit dislocation fa
milies, by half of their periodicity, is due to their intersection wit
h antiphase boundaries emanating from demisteps on the Si substrate. T
he observed discontinuity of dislocation lines is attributed to dynami
cal contrast conditions. The antiphase boundaries do not interrupt the
continuity of the network of dislocations. The dichromatic theory of
interfacial defects is applied in order to illustrate the geometrical
features of the pattern. The disymmetrization mechanism of the pattern
obeys the principle of symmetry compensation. A symmetry analysis of
the GaAs/Si interface justifies the agreement of the observations with
the structural model.