A boron monophosphide (BP) film was vapor-grown on (10 0)-Si which had been etched to form quadrilateral shaped pits bounded by four {111}-Si planes. Accompanying with epitaxial relationship of (10 0), [1 1 0]Sill(1 0 0), [1 1 0]BP, an eaves layer of BP overhanging the pit was obtained. A homo-epitaxial BP films also grew inside the pit on the underside of the BP eaves layer. In contrast to the hetero-epitaxial BP layer on the (100)-Si surface, the homo-epitaxially grown BP film generated no extra electron diffraction due to twins or stacking faults. The homo-epitaxial growth technique utilizing the BP eaves layer is useful to obtain BP films with fewer crystalline imperfections. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.