Pyramidal structured gallium antimonide epilayers with mirror-like {1 0 0} and {1 1 1} facets were grown on GaSb(1 0 0) patterned substrates by liquid phase epitaxy. The {1 1 1} facets were identified as two different faces: (1 1 1) and (1 1 1). Studying the cross-section indicated that the pyramidal structure was hollow. Due to the presence of a masking layer and hollow space, both the epitaxial lateral overgrowth layer and the top portion of the epilayer were of high quality. This result indicated that the hollow pyramidal structure has defect filtration effect. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.